Some 50 people were evacuated by police from the Reading music festival site in England due to altercations in the camping area. Videos posted on social media show several tents on fire, prompting complaints about security at the festival.
In a statement, the police confirmed that there was “some disorder in the camp around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday”, but that the situation was resolved “in minutes by the festival’s security and that some 50 people were expelled” from the place. The Guardian quoted. . They were accompanied by police officers, who made sure they arrived “home safe and sound.”
anyone at the reading festival should be careful, stab and fire, tell people not to sleep because it’s not safe. stay in large groups and beware this was literally a couple steps from our store pic.twitter.com/TfLSUyOvYg
— chlo ❤️???? (@d3fyyoust4rs) August 29, 2022
But the problems did not end there. Videos posted a few hours later on social media show tents on fire. Some festival goers used bottles and other objects to make the fires bigger, reported a Twitter user who was at the festival and ended up leaving the venue at 2am because she didn’t feel safe. Other users complained about the lack of action by the security guards.
in response to a cheep of the Reading festival, which appealed to festival goers not to leave their things on the premises and take their tents home, a user described Sunday night in the event’s camping area as “really scary”, urging the organization to fix the security issue. another user he answered saying that she and her friends were mugged several times and that security guards were “sitting around smoking” while people “lost their minds”.
laughable hash tag considering how many people were burning tents, dumping stuff, and leaving their trash behind. so much abuse and honestly it was terrifying at those campgrounds tonight sort out your safety gear and rules kidding.
– emma (@emmabram_) August 29, 2022
arena security was ok but no extensive checks, we didn’t sleep all night and stayed up till our train because security was sitting around smoking while people went crazy, was it like standing on its own? At least you got your chair back! it was an experience!
– emma (@emmabram_) August 29, 2022
In the same statement, the police stated that “on Sunday there were some fires in the camp”, explaining that “the security of the festival had water pumps and extinguished them in minutes”, a version that does not agree with the reports published on social networks. .
The Reading Festival is one of two musical events that take place annually at the same time in Reading and Leeds, England, during one weekend in August. The reading is organized in the center of the town, near Caversham Bridge. This year, the festival took place between Friday the 26th and Sunday the 28th of August. The event attracts a young crowd, made up mainly of teenagers, The Guardian reports.
Source: Observadora
