At around 7:30pm a falling barrier sparked a panic that sent fans stampeding into fences and over barriers at Saturday night’s Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. A section of the event’s 60,000 attendees fled when rumors of gunshots spread through the crowd after the noise of a barrier falling startled many attendees. According to the NYPD, seven people were treated for minor injuries at the scene, and Coldplay’s Chris Martin took to the stage to reassure concert goers. “Nobody is trying to hurt anybody,” Martin told the crowd. “You’re all safe, OK?” Martin can be seen addressing the crowd in the video clip below from MSNBC:
WATCH: Chris Martin and NYPD Assistant Chief Kathleen O'Reilly explain that a fence barrier collapsed at #GlobalCitizen Festival; there were no shots fired: "You're all safe." pic.twitter.com/wiAbyMVjqh
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 29, 2018
The network also aired footage of some of the panic that ensued.
Scary moment at the #GlobalCitizen Festival in NYC, live on @MSNBC: A fence barrier collapsed, the noise was startling, some attendees thought it sounded like gunshots, and there was a stampede. MSNBC cut to commercial, then came back and explained what happened. pic.twitter.com/SumPbM6GC5
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 30, 2018
Once the panic abated, the NYPD allowed re-entry to the festival until 9 p.m. and Janet Jackson took the stage as scheduled.
