Seventy-six people were hurt at the largest heavy metal concert in Soviet history, many of them suffering fractured skulls from thrown bottles, according to Soviet newspaper reports.
"Did We Want Hard Rock? We Got It," bemoaned a headline in Komsomolskaya Pravda of the casualty toll from Saturday's concert, which featured such Western groups as AC-DC, Metallica, Black Crowes and Pantera.More than half a million people jammed Tushino airfield in northwest Moscow for the free concert, which was sponsored by Time Warner Inc. and touted as a gift to the youth of Russia for their resistance to the August coup.
But newspapers compared the concert more to a battle, noting the brawls that broke out between drunken youths and the heavy security contingent, which included 11,000 Interior Ministry troops and 6,000 police.
Baton-wielding security forces charged frequently at the rowdy crowd.
"Rock Carnage on Tushino Airfield," blared a headline in the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Komsomolskaya Pravda said 76 people sought medical assistance and 51 people were hospitalized, including 16 policemen. At least 40 people were arrested for disorderly conduct.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta said 46 people suffered fractured skulls from flying bottles.