Brixton crush: O2 Academy to remain closed, council rules

London's Brixton O2 Academy volition stay closed for astatine slightest 3 months, Lambeth Council has confirmed.

It comes aft 2 radical died and respective were injured pursuing a assemblage surge successful the foyer of the venue during a gig by Afro-pop vocalist Asake connected 15 December.

Rebecca Ikumelo and Gaby Hutchinson were fatally injured successful the crush.

Lambeth's licensing sub-committee suspended the licence for the venue during a gathering connected Monday.

The 3rd sold-out performance successful a week by Nigerian creator Asake had to beryllium chopped abbreviated erstwhile a ample fig of radical tried to participate the southbound London site.

Nursing postgraduate Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, from Newham, eastbound London, was the parent of 2 children and Gaby Hutchinson, 23, from Gravesend successful Kent, was a information contractor moving astatine the venue.

Shortly aft the incident, the assembly suspended the Brixton O2's licence pending a afloat proceeding by the sub-committee.

The Met had said it would usage the gathering to "seek a further suspension" - thing the venue's proprietor and operator, Academy Music Group, agreed with.

During the latest meeting, the Met told the committee the probe had been challenging - involving statements from hundreds of imaginable witnesses, examining much than 500 sets of documents, reviewing societal media contented and analysing footage from much than 40 CCTV cameras.

The unit stressed it was not imaginable to marque a last determination connected what should hap to the venue's licence, until that probe had progressed.

"Until we cognize what happened, we can't accidental what needs to beryllium done differently," the Met's lawyer Gerald Gouriet KC told committee members, adding: "The answers won't beryllium known for immoderate time".

Mr Gouriet said constabulary were called by venue unit astatine 21:16 GMT aft they had closed the doors owed to ample crowds outside.

"When they arrived, they recovered large-scale disorder, the assemblage pushing against the doors, trying to unit them open, which they yet did, and erstwhile the doors were breached the assemblage poured into the lobby towards the auditorium," helium said.

"A fig of them fell to the floor. Several - we don't yet cognize the full fig and that volition beryllium recovered retired arsenic the enquiry proceeds - were injured arsenic the assemblage surged connected and implicit those who had fallen."

Mr Gouriet went connected to accidental the afloat grade of the injuries caused by the crush was inactive unknown, but a 3rd idiosyncratic remained critically sick successful hospital.

Academy Music Group said it continued to connection "sincere condolences" to the families of the radical who died and those affected, adding this was the archetypal clip immoderate of its venues had been taxable to a "police review" since 2005.

The steadfast told the committee 650 shows had been staged astatine the venue since 2017 without important incident.

Academy Music Group's lawyer Stephen Walsh said the institution was "committed" to learning from what had happened and would beryllium applying to update, and vary, the licence erstwhile it enactment guardant caller conditions successful the future.

Committee members ruled that the venue would not re-open until 16 April astatine the earliest.