VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- A stampede of spectators at a snowboarding event in Austria on Saturday led to five deaths and 25 injuries after a barrier gave way and dozens of people were trampled, police and local media said.
The Austria Press Agency on Sunday cited police in Innsbruck, capital of the western province of Tyrol, as saying the deaths and injuries resulted from a stampede of spectators that broke out at the city's Bergisel stadium after a barrier there collapsed. The spectators were attending a snowboarding event called "Air and Style."Senior police official Ferdinand Knapp said six of those hurt were seriously injured but offered no details on their condition.
The accident occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Four people were pronounced dead on the scene, and a fifth died en route to the hospital.
The barrier apparently gave way after several spectators were pushed against it or fell on an icy section as they were leaving the stadium at the end of the event.
A police officer fired a shot in the air to try and quiet the crowd at one point because ambulance crews rushing to the scene also almost were trampled, Austrian media reports said.
Innsbruck Mayor Herwig van Staa said he was at the event and that drunkenness may have played a role in the tragedy. "Many youths were heavily intoxicated," he told state television.
State television also reported that there had been complaints at previous snowboarding events at the stadium that barriers placed to direct people toward exits left too narrow a passage.
The stadium was sold out, with about 40,000 people attending various snowboarding competitions.