More than a dozen people were injured Sunday at an annual motorcycle rally in South Carolina when a stampede broke out. Officials say a person began running during the Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival, “causing a brief chain reaction within the crowd that lasted only seconds.”
The event, hosted annually over Memorial Day weekend, draws crowds of up to 40,000 people.
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Authorities were dispatched to the event for a “mass casualty incident” around 1 a.m. Sunday. Upon arriving on the scene, Horry County Fire Rescue found at least 19 people were injured. Of them, three were taken to the hospital, and others are believed to have sought treatment on their own, but all injuries are reportedly non-life-threatening.
Officials said the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division quickly took control, making announcements to the crowd that no incident had occurred, and an individual had simply started running.
“Their swift response helped calm attendees and restore order,” interim Town Manager Titus Leaks said, according to The Independent.
Leaks noted that there were no confirmed fights, weapons or direct threats to the public when the incident occurred and that the crowd reaction was “quickly identified and managed.”
Due to the event’s typical size, law enforcement and emergency personnel were already on site when the stampede broke out, and crowd-control measures were in place.
However, officials say they will review the incident with safety partners and determine if any additional safety enhancements should be implemented for future events.
“This was a brief crowd reaction that was quickly identified and managed by law enforcement who were already in position,” Leaks said. “We planned ahead, we responded quickly, and we will continue to build on that to ensure the safety of everyone who visits Atlantic Beach.”
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