A 10-year-old Beyoncé fan, who was startled by an insect, triggered a stampede on a MARTA train escalator that left 11 people injured in Atlanta.
The incident happened as fans left Beyoncé’s final show of a 4-day concert stop at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta in the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 15.
MARTA officials reported that the child screamed when she was startled by an insect on the escalator at the Vine City MARTA Station. Her screams triggered a stampede that injured 11 people.
One fan suffered a broken ankle, after the child screamed in reaction to a bug on the escalator. Cell phone videos showed fans on stretchers and in wheelchairs at local hospitals.
“Just after midnight on Tuesday, July 15, 11 people leaving the Beyoncé concert at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta were injured on an escalator at Vine City Station,” Stephany Fisher, sr. director of communications for MARTA, tells PEOPLE. “One person suffered a broken ankle, seven people were transported to the hospital with cuts and scrapes, and one person declined transport. Two people requested medical assistance after reaching their destinations.”
According to Fisher, MARTA police said a girl began “screaming and running, causing a stampede on the escalator that caused it to temporarily speed up and then stop suddenly.”
People who were on the escalator at the time went airborne when the escalator stopped suddenly.
Fisher adds that the escalator has since been barricaded, and that both MARTA and the escalator’s manufacturer, Schindler, are investigating the accident.
Beyoncé has not released an official statement about her injured fans in Atlanta.
