30 concertgoers fainted in Indonesia

More than 30 concertgoers at Korean boyband NCT127’s concert in Jakarta, Indonesia fainted en masse while the performance was underway, which resulted in a suspension of the event.

At the ‘Neo City: Jakarta – The Link’ concert, which took place in Jakarta on Friday, NCT127 members gave away balls to fans at several locations while singing their song ‘Paradise.’ As concertgoers rushed towards the stage en masse to receive a ball, the fence collapsed, which left more than 30 people fainted. There were no injuries. As hundreds of fans flocked together instantly, the leader Taeyong asked other members to stop singing and asked approaching concertgoers to back off. Then, NCT127 halted the performance at 9:20 pm, with six songs remaining unperformed.

“We stopped the performance to ensure safety because a chaotic situation occurred at the standing zone,” said Diandra Global Edutainment, a local concert organizer. About 8,000 tickets for the first concert were sold, and the arena can accommodate up to 10,000 people.

The second concert, which took place Saturday, ended seamlessly. More police officers and medics were deployed at the second event than at the first one. According to SM Entertainment on Sunday, the two-day concerts attracted about 15,000 concertgoers. In Indonesia, the authorities have stepped up vigilance after more than 135 people died in a stampede disaster at a soccer stadium last month.


Ji-Hoon Lee easyhoon@donga.com