Peggy Gou’s performance at a Seoul Boiler Room event was cancelled by the police due to crowd crushing concerns. The incident occurred last Saturday, with South Korean DJ Peggy Gou set to headline the show until the event was evacuated between 12.30am and 12.40am. Soichi Terada, Elkka and Jyoty were also scheduled to perform on the night. Crowding issues were linked to the early closure of the event before it could kick off. The venue used different tactics such as a one-way system to manage the crowd, but bottlenecks and jams occurred.
According to Mixmag, a witness who was at the venue commented that the humidity level was around 80% amid temperatures rising to 35 degrees in tropical state conditions, leaving the fans struggling in every way. It was reported that emergency services intervened due to overcrowding issues with 11 fire engines and 42 firefighters on hand in case of a worst-case scenario. Five people were treated for breathing difficulties as no casualties were experienced.
Boiler Room confirmed the situation from their end, via an Instagram story that reads, “…we faced crowd-flow issues, causing safety concerns and led to the early closure of the event.” Boiler Room was not responsible for the overselling of tickets, as it followed the venue’s guidelines on event capacity. Videos of the audience have surfaced online following the incident, with the media also pointing out the Itaewon crowd crushing tragedy in 2022 that left 159 people dead.
Peggy Gou expressed sadness upon hearing the cancellation news in a statement to Mixmag. She stated that the well-being and safety of the audience were her top priorities and apologised to fans, even though she was not as culpable as Boiler Room. Furthermore, Gou pledged that her risk assessment protocols would improve and also disclosed that a larger event would take place soon in the Korean Capital city. In a related statement, Boiler Room praised its fans, emphasising the importance of the safety of the fans and apologised for its inadequate planning and mismanagement. Boiler Room stated that it had improved existing systems to avoid any recurrence of the circumstances
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