Numerous injuries were reported in the ‘crowd collapse’ that left Jade Brooks, 23, with a fractured knee (Picture: PA/Getty)
A woman was left with a fractured knee after ‘around 10 people’ fell on her during a crowd crush at Boardmasters festival.
Jade Brooks, 23, had arrived at The Point stage her 17-year-old brother and their cousin, 19, an hour ahead of DJ Sammy Virji’s set at the festival in Newquay on Friday.
But they found themselves trapped by in a growing crowd that resulted in the set being cancelled, the stage being closed, and Brooks suffering a holiday-ruining injury.
She said: ‘More and more people were flocking in. This is where we were getting pushed into by people trying to get to the front, which caused us to be packed in like sardines.
‘I felt enclosed and wanted to get out but everywhere you turned there was no way to get out.
‘The crowd then pushed back and caused everyone to fall with me being the bottom person and I had about 10 people fall onto my legs.
‘I was screaming ‘my legs’ when I heard the crunch as someone landed on it.’
Brooks, from Yorkshire, said security told her to attend the welfare tent, where she found ‘hundreds of people were waiting’ before the medical team felt her leg.
Jade Brooks will be wearing the brace and crutches for the rest of her holiday (Picture: Jade Brooks/PA Wire)
Despite being told she’d be okay and they could see to her ‘in a few hours once they got down people more important’, Brooks claims she woke up in agony with the next morning.
Her leg had swollen to twice its usual size, with an x-ray at A&E revealing a fracture in her knee that’s left her using a brace with crutches.
She said: ‘We came to Cornwall for a two-week holiday like we do every year and this was in the middle of our holiday.
‘Now this second week of the holiday is ruined, we can’t do what we usually do and I’m going to miss out on all family activities.’
She added: ‘Boardmasters are a disgrace, they should have had security stopping people from coming in to reduce the amount of people so it wouldn’t cause crowd surges.
‘I want my money back along with compensation for destroying my holiday and when I return home I won’t be able to work for over a month.’
A TikTok video showed festivalgoers climbing out of the crowd and onto a platform.
Seven people were taken to hospital where they were treated for minor injuries before being discharged, Boardmasters said in Instagram story.
The Guardian reported Boardmasters as saying: ‘We can confirm that Sammy Virji’s set was cancelled and that the Point stage was closed to allow on-site teams to respond to an incident in the audience.
‘No serious injuries have been reported and the pit and medical teams immediately assisted those involved.
‘Safety is our number one priority and we thank Sammy and our audience for their understanding.
An estimated 53,000 people attended the seaside festival last year (Picture: Hugh R Hastings/Getty Images)
‘All other stages have been unaffected and performances continue as planned.’
The Point stage has since re-opened after a multi-agency review, the festival said.
Devon and Cornwall Police said: ‘We have been notified following a crowd surge at Boardmasters music festival in Newquay on Friday, August 9, which left a small number of attendees injured.
‘The injured parties are currently being treated on-site by medical staff or have been taken to hospital to be checked over.
‘None of the injuries are considered serious. This is an isolated incident and the festival continues.
‘Contrary to speculation, we can confirm that there have been no deaths as a result of this incident.’
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