K-pop band’s concert in Indonesia halted after 30 faint in crush | News

Incident comes weeks after more than 130 people, including 40 children, died in a football stadium crush in Java.

K-pop band NCT 127 was forced to end their first concert in Indonesia early after 30 people fainted in a crush.

Indonesia is still reeling after more than 130 people, including at least 40 children, died in a stadium crush last month – one of the deadliest disasters in football history.

Police spokesperson Endra Zulpan said late on Friday the concert near the capital, Jakarta, had been going for two hours when fans started surging forward to get closer to the stage.

“Because of it 30 people fainted. To prevent other incidents, we decided to stop the concert,” Zulpan said, adding the collapsed fans recovered without serious injury.

Just before the crush, the boy band had been handing out freebies to fans, 19-year-old concertgoer Syifa Aulia said.

Fans in the back pushed towards the stage until the barricade fences collapsed, she added.

“We are disappointed by those fans. We were warned to not push each other, even by the NCT 127 members. But they were so selfish. Just for good footage, they ignored other’s safety,” said Aulia.

‘We are sorry’

Police have allowed the second day of NCT 127’s concert to go ahead on Saturday night, but banned distribution of goodies to fans and required stricter measures to separate them from performers.

“To make amends for [the crush] and give the best experience, we will add more paramedics and security personnel for the Day 2 show,” concert organiser Dyandra Global Edutainment said on Instagram.

Fan Miftahul Janna, 18, said the fans “truly apologise” to the band.

“We are sorry because we have made you worry in your first concert in Indonesia. From this incident, we hope we can better comply with the safety regulations and care more about others,” she said.

The tragedy comes as Indonesia is scheduled to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in May and June next year.

Last weekend, police cancelled the third day of the Berdendang Bergoyang music festival in Jakarta after nearly 30 people fainted because of overcapacity.

That same day, more than 150 people were killed in a crowd surge at a Halloween party in Seoul. The disaster is among South Korea’s deadliest since a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people, mainly high school students.