One factor unites many of the world’s deadliest concert disasters: large audiences. Crowds can make gatherings unsafe, as witnessed on Nov. 5, 2021, during the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas. Unfortunately, this is not the first instance that someone has died during a concert or music festival. Crushing crowds and flames have produced some of the most catastrophic and deadly concert disasters, including the 2017 terror attacks at the Ariana Grande event in Manchester Arena and the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas.

These are 11 of the most numerous concert deaths in the last 50 years.

11. Indiana State Fair Stage Collapse

August 13, 2011 — Indianapolis, Indiana
Concert deaths: 7

Strong gusts toppled the metal scaffolding and stage equipment at the 2011 Indiana State Fair, with a large audience crammed into the music area. Audiences had been waiting for Sugarland to play outside when a 70-mile-per-hour wind blasted through the carnival, causing the stage to collapse. The incident claimed the lives of seven concertgoers.

10. Astroworld Festival

Nov. 5, 2021 — Houston, Texas
Concert deaths: 9

Crowds at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival erupted into chaos, which became tragic. When Scott, the festival’s founder and headliner, took the stage, the mayhem began. The audience raced to the front of the stage, crowding together so tightly that many couldn’t breathe. Some people went into cardiac arrest. In what was officially categorized as a mass casualty occurrence, eight individuals were confirmed dead and dozens more were brought to the hospital.

9. Roskilde Festival

June 30, 2000 — Roskilde, Denmark
Concert deaths: 9

Nine guys were murdered during a Pearl Jam performance in 2020 when fans stormed the stage and those in front fell. According to the BBC, the band was forced to stop performing, and once they realised what was going on, they requested people to move back, but it was too late. Several people had fallen, and the mob continued forward, smothering those at the bottom of the pile. Pearl Jam later mentioned the tragedy in the song “Love Boat Captain” with the line “Lost nine friends we’ll never know.”

8. The Who at Cincinnati Riverfront Stadium

Dec. 3, 1979 — Cincinnati, Ohio
Deaths at concert: 11

More over 18,000 tickets were sold for The Who’s concert at Cincinnati Riverfront Stadium, but only 25 police officers were assigned to crowd control. The act was supposed to start at 8 p.m., but the doors remained closed at 7:45 p.m. when an impatient audience pushed towards the entrance after hearing The Who’s warmup and mistaking it for the opening piece.

General admission seating accounted for 80 percent of tickets sold, which was claimed to have contributed to the rush for admittance as fans clamoured for a good view of the event. As a result of the catastrophe, new laws were implemented to maintain order during huge performances, which are still in use today.

7. Mawazine Festival

May 23, 2009 — Rabat, Morocco
Deaths at concert: 11

According to Al Jazeera, the purpose of this nine-day event was to enhance Morocco’s image as a contemporary nation. The event included several worldwide talents, including Stevie Wonder, Kylie Minogue, and Ennio Morricone. On the final night of the event, 11 people were crushed to death during a concert by Moroccan artist Abdelaziz Stati.

According to the BBC, guests blamed the catastrophe on the police, who barred numerous exits and sent masses through others “not destined for the purpose.” The official story was that supporters, impatient to escape, scaled the gates, and one of them collapsed, killing 11 people.

6. Love Parade

July 25, 2010 — Duisburg, Germany
Deaths at concert: 21

In 2010, Berlin refused to hold the Love Parade due to safety concerns over the size of the throng. The event was similarly cancelled in Bochum in 2009 owing to the impossibility to accommodate so many people. Duisburg hosted it in 2010.

An underpass leading to the concert grounds became jammed with people who entered the tunnel despite the fact that no one was allowed into the event at the time. Panic in the tunnel killed 19 people. As a result of their injuries, two survivors died in the hospital.

5. Ghost Ship Fire

Dec. 2, 2016 — Oakland, California
Concert deaths: 36

A fire broke out during an underground electronic music party in Oakland, trapping and killing 36 people. The tragedy occurred in the Ghost Ship, a derelict warehouse-turned-artist-collective venue with no smoke detectors or sprinklers and a substantial amount of combustible stuff. It was Oakland’s biggest mass mortality incident since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

4. Santika Nightclub Fire

Jan. 1, 2009 — Bangkok, Thailand
Concert deaths: 100

The cause of the fire in Santika Nightclub, where hundreds of people were celebrating the new year and the band Burn was performing, is unknown. Some blame it on sparklers, others on an electrical glitch, and yet others on explosives in the club. It’s probable that fireworks from outside the club caused the fire. Other facts are that the club was never sanctioned and never had a fire inspection. It had only one fire extinguisher for the entire structure, and inspection documents were falsified to keep the club open. Exits had been welded shut to prevent guests from skipping out on their bills, therefore there were no designated exits. The following fire killed 66 persons.

3. Station Nightclub Fire

Feb. 20, 2003 — West Warwick, Rhode Island
Concert deaths: 100

The night of the Station Nightclub Fire, crowds were way above fire capacity, and 100 people perished while enjoying the band Great White. The band’s tour manager put off some pyrotechnics that ignited the insulation, and it took a long for the crowd to realise that the flames were not part of the show.

When they did, there was a tremendous exodus, although most sought to go in the same direction they’d come. Many were crushed and pushed down in the subsequent stampede, and many perished from asphyxia, smoke inhalation, or were killed by the fire itself, including Great White’s lead guitarist, Ty Longley.

The club’s owners, the foam manufacturers of the hazardous and toxic building insulation, Anheuser-Busch, Clear Channel Broadcasting, and the town of West Warwick reached an agreement in January 2010 to distribute $176 million among the survivors of the fire and the children and families of those who died.

2. Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire

May 28, 1977 — Southgate, Kentucky
Deaths at concert: 165

The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Kentucky was a large labyrinth of a club just across the bridge from Cincinnati, Ohio. On the night of the fire, many activities were taking place at the same time, including dinners, receptions, and a John Davidson performance, all of which were linked by tight corridors within the same structure.

The actual origin of the fire was never identified, however it is known that it was well started when two waitresses noticed it. The majority of the building’s inhabitants were in the magnificent Cabaret room, where two comics were warming up an audience of at least a thousand people in a space built for roughly 600.

Walter Bailey, a busboy, interrupted the event to deliver a statement about the fire. Several others made their way towards the exits he’d indicated, while others dismissed the warning. When the fire broke out in the room, the crowd erupted, and individuals were crushed as they sought to flee.

1. Cromañón Fire

Dec. 30, 2004 — Buenos Aires, Argentina
Deaths at concert: 194

Cromaón was a rock club in Buenos Aires’ Barrio Once. The night of the fire, an estimated 3,000 revellers came to watch the band Callejeros at Republica Cromaón – over three times the capacity of the club..

To prevent individuals from slipping in and evading a cover fee, the club had many entrances that were constantly bolted shut, while emergency exits were walled off. At the time of the event, Repblica Cromañón was roughly a month late for a fire inspection and lacked a sprinkler system. A fire soon engulfed netting near the ceiling and spread. Rather of being crushed or burned. The majority of the roughly 200 injuries were caused by breathing smoke and hazardous chemicals.