People are afraid, afraid of terrorist, afraid of what someone will say about them, afraid of spouse or friends, afraid of the government, afraid of eating the wrong food, afraid of just about everything. This message came home to me the night of July 4th.
We were in Philadelphia to watch our grandson play drum in the Pulaski High School marching band in the 4th of July parade in the historic area of Philadelphia. My son, daughter-in-law and other two grandchildren were present.
There was “free music concert’ in the USA, as it was billed, outside the art museum on the night of the 4th. We went about 7pm to get a good spot to watch the fireworks at 11pm. There were so many people there and it was so hard to walk we found a shady spot just outside of the area with a large screen showing the concert at art museum. We could not really see the screen or hear the music unless we ventured into the crowd to get some food and drink at the various vendor stands.
We were at a corner just behind a police line with a street filled with vehicles. It was a good spot to watch the fireworks overhead. Near the end of the fireworks there was a lot of screaming and a rush of people heading our way. Suddenly all the grassy area behind us was cleared out and my daughter-in-law was screaming to get our stuff and get out. Like I say we were at the end of the rampage so as I grabbed our stuff and looked around the area behind us and saw no one. Nothing was happening except a ton of police on bicycles were blowing their whistles and heading on the road to the area behind us. My grandson had a graphic description of the chaos on Facebook. He says: “I tripped on the curb and nearly got trampled. I then turn around to see my little sister on the ground crying because she got ran over by someone.” I do not remember it being quite so dramatic but while my son and his family went back to their hotel Pat and I stay a few more minutes to watch the end of the fireworks.
Walking back to our hotel we walked by the spot where the stampede started but could see nothing except a lot of police officers and people milling around. The next days on local Philadelphia TV news, we heard the stampede was started by a big noise, some thought a gun but most likely a fireworks or B B gun. Fortunately only two people had slight injuries from the stampede. An outdoor stampede has a lot of room for people to run so there is less chance of being trampled.
But if a loud noise at a 4th of July fireworks display can cause so much panic and chaos there had to be a lot of fear in lots of people present to spark such a stampede. Check the picture and video on the side to get an inside look of what happened. When fear reigns a stampede begins.
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