Dozens injured in Australian festival crowd crush

The stampede, which occurred when revelers at the front of a crowd who were leaving a performance in a tent suddenly lost their footing, left more than a dozen concertgoers in their teens and 20s with serious injuries including pelvic fractures, broken legs, head and facial injuries and possible spinal injuries, according to broadcaster ABC.

The incident at the Falls Music and Arts Festival in Lorne, 140 kilometers (about 90 miles) southwest of Melbourne began late Friday night when fans were trying to leave a performance by the Australian band DMA's. Up to 60 people were injured, according to Victoria state police, with some reports as high as 80.

'Not enough exits'

Victims said there were too many people in the tent, with one guest commenting on social media that there were "not enough exits for such a large crowd!"

"It was extremely serious ... so many of us thought we weren't going to make it out of that," the guest wrote.

"While the injuries are significant, this could have been quite a tragedy and we are grateful that the outcome was not worse," said Victorian Health Commander Paul Holman.

"We've seen these events overseas and they have had tragic outcomes, and we're very fortunate we've had not deaths as a result of this," Holman said.

On July 24, 2010, 21 concertgoers were trampled to death and at least 652 were injured at the Love Parade music festival in Duisburg, Germany.

ipj/cmk (dpa, AP)