Chaos broke out at a downtown Atlanta MARTA station as Beyoncé concertgoers were injured when an escalator malfunctioned following a “stampede,” officials said.
Fans were on their way home, moving down the escalator at the Vine City station just past midnight Tuesday, when someone screamed and ran, MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher said. Witnesses told authorities a woman was “possibly startled by an insect,” she said.
The scream startled other riders, including Amber Anderson, who was in town with a friend for the final of Beyoncé’s four shows at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. She turned toward the direction of the noise, near the station entrance, and saw people running.
“It felt like someone was going to get trampled,” Anderson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, adding that it was a scary way to end the night. “The ride home was supposed to be happy … and we’re both crying because it could have been way worse.”
Fisher said the initial scream prompted the crowd to “stampede” the escalator, which caused it “to temporarily speed up and then stop suddenly.” At least 11 people were injured.
The incident remains under investigation. It’s not clear when the escalators at Vine City were last inspected or repaired. The AJC has requested copies of inspection and maintenance logs.
Seven of those injured were taken to the hospital with “cuts and scrapes,” and one person had a broken ankle, Fisher confirmed.
On Tuesday afternoon, the escalator remained blocked off. Bits of jewelry could be seen caught in the stairs.
Anderson was among those injured on the escalator. At first, it was operating normally. Then, it sped up, “like a roller coaster,” and she saw people in front of her begin to fall. People behind them were being pushed under their bodies as the escalator continued moving.
“I’m preparing myself to be crushed,” Anderson recounted. “There’s literally nowhere to go.”
She ended up pinned between two people, twisting her leg. Anderson said she was eventually able to get to her feet and help several others, including a young girl.
She saw a trail of blood on the platform.
Rochelle Matthews, who also attended the concert, said she had just taken a step off the escalator when it started speeding up behind her. It made a loud clanging sound, and people started tumbling.
She and others started to pull people out of the pile.
“It was like people were playing Twister and all fell on top of each other,” Matthews said.
Another attendee, Marcus Armistead, was on the platform and heard “bloodcurdling” screams from the escalator. It seemed as if it just gave out.
“Imagine a rock slide down a mountain,” Armistead said. “That’s what it looked like with people coming down.”
Armistead said those on the platform tried their best to help, taking off bandannas to apply pressure to one woman’s bleeding foot.
After Anderson reunited with her friend — they were separated in the chaos and her friend remained on the concourse — they left quickly. Staff were hurrying people onto trains, she said.
When they got off at their stop, Inman Park, Anderson said they saw two people waiting for medical attention there after at least one of them was injured at Vine City.
An estimated 64,284 people took MARTA to the four concerts in Atlanta, according to data from the transit agency. MARTA ran extra trains before and after each performance to increase service, with no incidents or significant problems reported.
The escalator incident is the latest problem to beset the transit agency, which has faced issues during multiple recent large events. Most recently, a broken train kept some AJC Peachtree Road Race runners from arriving at the starting line on time. Last month, riders dealt with extensive delays after pop star Shakira’s concert.
MARTA’s board of directors is scheduled to get an update on race and concert service at their Thursday meeting.
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