Global Citizen releases statement following security barrier incident in New York

Cape Town – On Saturday during the Global Citizen Festival thousands of spectators fled – what they thought – were gunshots, causing pandemonium at the event which took place at Great Lawn in Central Park in New York over eight hours. 

However, after authorities investigated they ascertained that the sound in question came from festival goers stepping on a fallen security barrier.

On the day authorities assured the crowd they were safe, and that no shots had been fired. However, seeing that there was still some panic Coldplay front-man Chris Martin said to the crowd, “nobody is trying to hurt anyone," eliciting cheers from the audience. "There's no need to run fast. There's no need to push people out of the way."

Then on Monday the CEO of Global Citizen, Hugh Evans, released a statement saying about the incident in part: “A few dozen people reported injuries and sought treatment for injuries sustained as they were moving away from the area. To those who were injured or frightened by this experience, we sincerely apologise. We recognise how traumatic this was for many of you.” 

SEE THAT FULL STATEMENT HERE:

The festival featured performances from Cardi B and others such as local musician Sho Madjozi. South African presenter Bonang Matheba also appeared on stage. 

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