The organizer of the Metro Metro festival will have to “take its responsibilities” in connection with the overflows which occurred this weekend, on the esplanade of the Olympic Park, hammered Tuesday the mayor Valérie Plante, saying to be “troubled” by the images circulating online.
Posted at 4:30 p.m.
“I was disturbed, especially when you think that there are people who could have been injured precisely because of the poor management of the barriers. That is an element that will have to be reviewed, ”agreed Mme Crashes during a scrum.
On the web, images have circulated in recent days showing festival-goers overturning protective barriers. Festival-goers also seem to have had access to areas of the Olympic Park esplanade where they were not allowed. A total of six people were taken to hospital during the festival, Urgences-santé confirmed on Tuesday. A security guard was reportedly injured in the face.
For the mayor, it will be especially important that the organizer of the festival “takes its responsibilities”. “They said what happened was not acceptable. We cannot compromise the safety of people who are outside or around the perimeter, ”she said.
Nevertheless, M.me Plante says she is “confident” of being able to reproduce the event in 2023 in complete safety. “We are a city of festivals. We have a lot of experience [en gestion de foule]. And we will work with the organizers to see what should have been done differently, in short how we can improve things. »
Montreal now invites Metro Metro to “do a post-mortem” and report to its administration. “There are always agreements that are made. At the City, we set conditions for issuing permits. We want to see a feedback of what happened, because in some cases, we see that the security was deficient, “said Ms.me Plant.
“It was not easy”
In an interview with 98.5 FM on Tuesday, the festival organizer, Olivier Primeau, acknowledged that overflows had been observed. “This is the second year that we have held the festival on this site. We don’t know it by heart yet, so it hasn’t been easy, especially after two years where festival-goers were bored of partying,” he said.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Olivier Primeau requesting security assistance.
“I don’t think that on the site, we lacked [d’agents]. We had respected what we were asked for on the security side”, however defended Mr. Primeau, arguing that the agents cannot “control everything” either. “We are here to improve and to keep it going. We’re not saying it’s okay what happened, but we’re not saying the festival is a disaster either. »
In the ranks of the opposition, the spokesman for security, Abdelhaq Sari, wonders if there was “lack of police personnel in the sector last weekend”. “Was the event well coordinated? These are the questions we ask ourselves. […] The administration must keep an eye on what is happening on its territory and play a role of facilitator “with the police and the Olympic Park, argued Mr. Sari.