Trouble began with a small fire near the entrance of the festival site on Saturday, which led to the gates being shut temporarily and a crowd surge when they reopened.
A Met Police spokesperson said: "Shortly after 18:00hrs on Saturday, 1 August we were alerted to reports of crushing at the entrance to the Ghana Party in the Park event being held at the Copthall Playing Fields in Barnet. 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."
23 people needed medical assistance
In total, 23 people received some form of assistance either from the emergency services or the event medical team. Nine people were assessed by the London Ambulance Service, and three were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A London Ambulance Service 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."
Footage from the event showed dozens of emergency vehicles, including air ambulances, at the scene, and chaotic scenes of people falling to the ground as the crowd surged.
Eyewitness describes chaos
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."
Festival closed early
Organisers announced the abrupt closure of the festival on Saturday night. In a statement, they said: "Following the unfortunate incident at today's event, we wish to provide an update regarding the abrupt closure of Ghana in the Park. The decision to close the festival was made solely on the grounds of health and safety. Officers from the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade 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 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 Ghana Party in the Park
Ghana Party in the Park, also known as ShattaFest UK, is an annual outdoor festival that has been running in London since 2005. It is described as a "cultural festival celebrating the very best of Ghanaian music, culture, food, fashion and community".
According to the London Assembly website, the festival attracts more than 8,000 people and is the largest Ghanaian event outside of Ghana. This year's event was headlined by Ghanaian Reggae-Dancehall artist Shatta Wale.
