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Warning: This story includes a photo of one of the injuries sustained by a concert-goer. The picture features blood.
Beyoncé concert-goers had a terrifying end to their evening on the final night of the singer’s Cowboy Carter tour Atlanta shows.
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 15, crowds of people leaving the Mercedes-Benz Stadium took the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) to get home. But at the Vine City station, an incident caused mass injuries.
“Just after midnight on Tuesday, July 15, 11 people leaving the Beyoncé concert at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta were injured on an escalator at Vine City Station,” Stephany Fisher, sr. director of communications for MARTA, tells PEOPLE. “One person suffered a broken ankle, seven people were transported to the hospital with cuts and scrapes, and one person declined transport. Two people requested medical assistance after reaching their destinations.”
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According to Fisher, MARTA Police who were on the scene reported that “a person began screaming and running, causing a stampede on the escalator that caused it to temporarily speed up and then stop suddenly.”
Fisher adds that the escalator has since been barricaded, and that both MARTA and the escalator’s manufacturer, Schindler, are investigating the situation.
MARTA police chief Scott Kreher told 11Alive that the person who reportedly started the stampede was actually a 10-year-old girl who observed a cockroach or “Palmetto bug.”
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“There was someone who started to scream outside of the station. She was startled by a bug outside, outside the large crowd,” acting CEO Rhonda Allen told the MARTA board on July 17, 11Alive reported.
When asked about this claim, Fisher tells PEOPLE, “MARTA Police on scene said there was a scream, and witnesses said the person who screamed was reacting to an insect. I believe there’s also video on TikTok of a woman claiming it was a 10-year-old relative who screamed when she saw a bug.”
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Video footage captured from the alarming event shows the escalator lurching forward, causing people to topple over one another as the crowd screamed. People were then seen being helped off the ground by fellow concert-goers.
“It just created a whole entire slide full of people,” student Jacobi Edwards told Fox 5. “It just started tumbling — people just tumbling on each other. It was crazy, it was chaotic.”
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11Alive reported that an inspection certificate posted on the same escalator showed that it is set to expire next month.
The escalator’s manufacturer, Schindler, released a statement following the incident.
“We are aware of the incident that occurred following the conclusion of a nearby concert on an escalator at Vine City Station, stemming from a sudden crowd surge/stampede,” the company told 11Alive in a statement. “We extend our sympathies to the passengers who were injured. We take the safety of the riding public seriously and are committed to working closely with MARTA, Vine City Station personnel, and local authorities to fully investigate and determine the cause of the incident. At this time, we have no verified information as to the cause and it would be inappropriate to speculate.”
They shared an updated statement with PEOPLE.
“As previously stated, we are aware of the incident that occurred at Vine City Station on July 15th. As reported during yesterday’s MARTA Working Session, the escalator was inspected by state officials the morning following the incident and there was no indication of equipment malfunction; rather, preliminarily it appears that the escalator was overloaded beyond design capacity causing the unit to briefly accelerate and the brakes to engage as part of the unit’s multi-layered, code-required safety system,” the statement read. “As also indicated during the Working Session, prior to the incident, the escalator has undergone standard monthly maintenance with the most recent service taking place on July 10th, less than a week before the incident. The escalator was found to be fully compliant and performing as expected at that time. Again, we extend our sympathies to the persons injured and will continue to provide technical support and cooperate fully with any further investigative efforts.”
