A man described a tense and frightening situation at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) on New Year’s Day (Jan 1), saying hundreds of people were held in a narrow area with no clear way to move forward.
Stomper PC, who was at MBS to watch the fireworks, said the incident occurred just after midnight, at about 12.36am, as crowds were making their way home.
“After the fireworks, people were channelled into a very narrow area and then not allowed to move on,” the Stomper said. “They only let people trickle out slowly for whatever reason.”
According to PC, the bottleneck caused anxiety to spread through the crowd, which he estimated to be more than 400 people.
“People started to panic, hyperventilating and getting very anxious,” he said. “Kids were crying. The crowd was getting restless and there was a big crush.”
PC added that he saw at least one person experiencing what appeared to be a panic attack and struggling to breathe, while others shoved through the crowd in hopes of finding another exit.
