Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter on Tuesday apologized after the city's world-famous Oktoberfest was temporarily closed over the weekend due to overcrowding, reported dpa.
"I want to expressly apologize," said Reiter in a video published on Instagram. "Thank God nobody was seriously harmed. We were simply lucky."
The festival site was shut to new arrivals for about 30 minutes on Saturday after visitor flows peaked around the early evening table change, marking the shift from lunch to dinner reservations in the notorious beer tents.
Witnesses and officials reported bottlenecks in which people could move neither forward nor back, leading to panic among some festivalgoers.
At the time of the incident, some 300,000 people were estimated to be at the festival, which opened on September 20 and runs until October 5.
After about an hour, entrances were gradually reopened once crowds dispersed into the beer tents.
Two visitors were treated for panic attacks, but there were no reports of injuries.
Authorities have promised to investigate the incident.
"We have to manage the flow of visitors better than we apparently did last Saturday," said Reiter.
Oktoberfest boss Christian Scharpf was due to announce amendments to security procedures at a press conference on Tuesday.
Known locally as the Wiesn, the traditional event draws millions of visitors each year to the Bavarian capital.
- Munich mayor
- Apologizes
- Overcrowding
- Oktoberfest
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
