Luzhniki disaster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Luzhniki disaster was a deadly human crush that took place at Luzhniki stadium during the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem on October 20, 1982. The official number of deaths is 66.

[edit] The disaster

October 20, 1982 in Moscow was a cold, windy and snowy day, and the number of tickets sold was relatively low. Only the East Stand was open for spectators and for security reasons only one exit from the stand was left open. Some minutes before the final whistle when FC Spartak was leading 1-0, the spectators began to leave the stadium through this only exit. Then during the injury time, FC Spartak scored its second goal, and some fans who had left the stand already turned back to return to the stadium and collided with people who were leaving the stadium and were not allowed by militsiya guards to stop or turn back. A stampede ensued in which many people died or were injured. The official number of dead was 66, although many people including victims' relatives claim this number to be significantly higher,as many as 340.

[edit] Aftermath

The only information about the disaster in Soviet media was a short article that appeared in the newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva on the next day. It said: Yesterday in Luzhniki after the football match an accident occurred. There are some injured among the spectators. Some Soviet officials claimed fans themselves to be responsible. The relatives of the victims were allowed to bury them only after thirteen days. Then on February 8, 1983 a trial was held, but the only man found guilty was the commandant of the stadium Panchikhin who had been working here for only two months and a half before the disaster and was sentenced to 18 months of corrective labour. The governing body of the stadium was tried separately but was not sentenced. The actions of militsiya were not examined at all despite the evidence of witnesses. Then for several years matches were not held at Luzhniki in the end of October to prevent relatives of victims from laying flowers there. Only in 1989 the newspaper Sovetskiy Sport told about the disaster openly. Now there is a monument at the place of the tragedy.