Chaos at teen concert

Dozens treated by paramedics after Backstreet Boys crowd surges forward

EDMONTON -- The Backstreet Boys concert unleashed mayhem as dozens of pre-pubescent fans were crushed in their bid to get close to their teenage idols.

Masses of waving, screaming, sweating females were pressed into the stage barricade of the general admission show, sparking a slew of minor injuries, including at least three girls who passed out and were taken to two first aid tents.

"It was pure hell," said 16-year-old Crystal, who didn't want her last name used. "I was in the middle and a whole bunch of people ran. I got knocked over. I couldn't move. They shouldn't have so many people in one place."

A shaken Kelly Golinouski, 15, passed out minutes into the Commonwealth Stadium show that drew about 22,000.

"I don't remember anything," said the teen, who has asthma and was still struggling for breath as she headed back into the crowds.

"It was hot. There was no air," said friend Raman Khinda, 14, who saw her friend collapse.

Security guards and volunteer first aid crews helped paramedics deal with the continuous stream of sobbing youngsters who were helped over the barricade.

About 50 fans, most young girls, had been treated by 10 p.m., but the parade slowed as the evening progressed. None of the injuries was serious.

Security guards poured water into the mouths of screaming teens in front of the stage.

"They're hyperventilating - just really, really emotional," said paramedic Bill Hubet. "Most of them are just anxious or emotional. They're all young females, crying."

Early in the evening, paramedics had nine people complain of being squashed against the front rail in front of the stage and many complained of being short of breath. Another 14 complained of being sore or bleeding or having their feet bruised by the stampede.

And the numbers grew as the band played on.

Trouble began before the show even started as eager teens jostled in line before the gates opened at 6 p.m.

Eight more cops were called in to join four already at the site to help control 15,000 fans lined up hours before the concert began.

"People almost ran over me. I got pushed. The fence almost came down," sobbed Kattie Roswell, 8, who got caught in the rush into the stadium.

Her frantic mother, Angela Roswell, said she lost sight of her daughter for several minutes. Even before her daughter was crushed, she had a burly security guard lift her over a chain-link fence and put her near the entrance gate.

Angela was terrified to see her daughter get pushed back into the fence when the first surge began.

"If people would not have grabbed her, she would have been under the fence," her weeping mother said.

"What happened out here was not expected," police Supt. Ulysses Currie said of the line of fans that wrapped around the stadium.

-With files from Bernard Pilon