Nigerian breakout star Asake’s London show ended in disaster after fans rushed the venue leaving eight people in hospital, with four in critical condition.
According to multiple reports, police responded to requests for help at around 9:35 London time on Thursday (Dec. 15), where a large crowd of people attempted to force their way into the Brixton O2 Academy during the Asake concert.
So the police have locked off Asake and have left a bunch of people in an alley in the freezing cold. It is well. pic.twitter.com/NSuu2MudHK
— Midé (@__93_Mide) December 15, 2022
The gig was the third of the Nigerian hitmaker’s sold-out shows at the venue, with the previous two passing without incident.
Various clips circulated on social media show a large crowd gathered outside the venue. Shouts and screams were heard as fans visibly struggled in the crush.
People have had enough and are breaking in to the venue to see Asake
— Midé (@__93_Mide) December 15, 2022can’t make this up pic.twitter.com/Gt6W1LVCWf
Because of Asake people want to behave like goats??? Wow. pic.twitter.com/74S6DnzPPa
— inayah (@inayahlxve) December 15, 2022
Asake previously asked fans not to try to enter the venue if they didn’t have a ticket, as the show was sold out.
Journalist and author Jason Okundaye was outside the venue and reported “unsafe” conditions. He claimed “the lions share of blame falls on security,” with many fans citing lax security measures.
In response to a complaint about “unruly people” causing the crush, Okundaye said “multiple” things went wrong.
“Multiple things are true,” he tweeted Friday morning. “People were unruly and turned up without tickets, true. Security was also extremely lax, failed to properly check tickets, and even reportedly took bribes to let people in.”
He also backed up attendees’ reports that security failed to properly scan tickets.
“The majority of people waiting outside *had tickets*,” the journalist explained. “The problem was security had already let in a lot of people without tickets so capacity was reached with angry and confused ticket holders left outside with zero communication. Again, multiple things true at once.”
Asake offered apologies to concert-goers and prayers to the injured via a statement on social media.