A small fire near the entrance of Ghana Party in the Park forced festival gates to close temporarily, and a crowd surged when they reopened, causing what police called crushing at the event in Barnet.
Metropolitan Police said they were alerted shortly after 18:00 on Saturday 1 August to reports of crushing at the entrance to the event at Copthall Playing Fields. A spokesperson said: "A small fire on the site, near to the entrance, had required the gates to be closed temporarily. A crowd built up and surged when the gates were reopened."
Injuries and medical response
In total, 23 people received assistance either from emergency services or the event medical team, with nine people assessed by the London Ambulance Service. Three people were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A London Ambulance spokesperson said: "We were called at 6.08pm on Saturday 1 August to reports of an incident in Hendon, NW4. We sent multiple resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, paramedics in fast-response cars and an advanced paramedic. We also dispatched our Hazardous Area Response Team and London's Air Ambulance."
"Working with the on-site medical provider, we treated multiple patients at the scene before conveying three patients to hospital," the spokesperson added.
Witnesses describe chaotic scenes
Footage shared online showed people falling to the ground as the crowd surged, with staff and members of the public helping others to their feet. Eyewitness Kieran Turnbull, 18, told The Sun: "We saw this stampede coming through the main entrance."
"At the bit where they do the bag and clothing searches everyone was just pushing through," he said. "People were being carried out on stretchers. It became very very chaotic."
Organisers close the festival early
The incident led to the early closure of the event. In a statement on Saturday night, organisers said the decision was made solely on health and safety grounds, after London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade officers responded to a major incident on site.
"Following discussions with the emergency services and our health and safety team, it was agreed that closing the festival was the safest option in order to protect all attendees," they said. Organisers added: "We would like to clarify that there were no incidents of stabbing and deaths as being speculated. The safety and wellbeing of our attendees, staff, artists, contractors and partners remains our upmost priority."
About the festival
Ghana Party in the Park, also known as ShattaFest UK, is an annual outdoor festival in London running since 2005. According to the London Assembly, it attracts more than 8,000 people and is the largest Ghanaian event outside Ghana.
This year's event was headlined by Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artist Shatta Wale.
