Justin Bieber ConcertCrowd Surge
Thousands of fans gathered overnight for a planned free Justin Bieber performance for Channel Seven’s Sunrise at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay. Reports say crowd surges began after rumours he had arrived early; police cancelled the outdoor performance on safety grounds, and Bieber later performed one song inside Seven’s Martin Place studio.
Incident Overview
What happened
Thousands of fans gathered overnight for a planned free Justin Bieber performance for Channel Seven’s Sunrise at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay. Reports say crowd surges began after rumours he had arrived early; police cancelled the outdoor performance on safety grounds, and Bieber later performed one song inside Seven’s Martin Place studio.
Incident name: Justin Bieber Concert Crowd Surge. Sources also describe it as Bieber’s only Australian performance / free concert / Sunrise appearance being cancelled after crowd surges or a crowd crush at Circular Quay.
Date detail: 26/04/2010. Sources describe the crowd surge and cancellation as occurring overnight into the early morning of Monday 26 April 2010, with some reports published late on 25 April 2010 because the incident began overnight.
Location
Where it happened
Venue / site: Overseas Passenger Terminal.
Area: “Sydney’s Circular Quay”; “the Rocks area of the city”; later crowd movement to Channel Seven’s studio in Martin Place.
City / State / Country: Sydney., New South Wales., Australia.
View Sources →Key Facts
Reported figures
Chronology
Incident sequence
Outcomes
Impact summary
Disputed Details
Conflicting information
The sources agree on the broad incident, but several figures and trigger details vary. Tidy numbers are tempting. They are also where reports go to die.
The available reporting does not give one settled position for this detail.
ABC said the crowd had surged to almost 3,500 by 3am.
ABC/AAP and SBS said about 4,000 were present/camped out.
Reuters, CBS/AP, and Shine On Media used about 5,000.
Pollstar reported mostly 7,000 teen females.
Crowd estimates vary materially across sources.
The available reporting does not give one settled position for this detail.
ABC said eight people were taken to hospital and dozens were treated at the scene for hyperventilation.
Reuters said about eight youngsters injured and others fainting.
NZ Herald/AAP said at least ten girls were treated by paramedics, but also that police later said all of the girls were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
CBS/AP and Deseret/AP said at least eight girls were sent to hospital, at least 10 fainted, and one fractured her kneecap.
Pollstar reported 10 being hospitalised.
The main conflict is whether eight or ten were hospitalised, and whether some or all were only treated on scene.
The available reporting does not give one settled position for this detail.
ABC/AAP and NZ Herald/AAP say rumours/whispers that Bieber had arrived early forced a crowd surge around 2am.
Witness quoted by SBS/CBS/AP said doors opened early at 3am instead of 5am, after which “everyone bolted.”
Both explanations appear in contemporaneous reporting.
Not Verified
Unverified details
These items were not confirmed from the reviewed sources.
Source Material
References
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