Crowd surge outside UCLA game prompts concern from officials

LOS ANGELES - UCLA officials have announced changes aimed at avoiding the type of surge that occurred Friday when fans waited for hours to enter Pauley Pavilion for a men's basketball game against Villanova, prompting fears of a deadly crush similar to what happened in Houston.

Athletic director Martin Jarmond outlined the plans in a Saturday afternoon tweet where he also apologized for a second time about Friday's difficulties.

"As I stated (Friday) night, I apologize to all our students and fans who had challenges with the line to enter the basketball game," Jarmond tweeted. "We heard your feedback and after discussing (it) with our campus partners, we will implement the following changes to improve the experience:

-- more staff to assist and manage the line

-- additional structures for a better controlled line

-- conduct a deep dive with our campus partners, ... regarding the distribution process for student tickets.

"We have high expectations for our student and fan experience, and while the game was great, we didn't meet those expectations for everyone. We will learn from this and get better."

On Friday, fans waited for hours to get into the arena before the Villanova game, which UCLA won in overtime, 86-77. Some students told the Los Angeles Times that staffing shortages were exacerbated by people cutting in line.

"It turned into mayhem," senior political science and history major Tobias Sunshine told the Times. "As soon as people started to move, the whole crowd would move in waves. ... People were getting pushed and crushed, yelling out, 'Stop moving!' "

Second-year cognitive science major Hannah Masresha told the Daily Bruin the line turned chaotic when officials started handing out wristbands that reserved entry to the arena.

RELATED: What happened at Travis Scott concert: How crowd surges can kill people

"When they started doing wristbands, everyone started running," Masresha said. "Everyone just started running, and it's kind of like, `Do you stay to your spot or do you just try to make it in because everyone else is cutting?' So, we just joined the mosh pit."

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No injuries were reported and other campus officials joined Jarmond in issuing apologies.

"With a sold-out game and enormous student and fan interest, we're aware of challenges with the line and were not adequately staffed," athletic department spokesman Scott Markley told the Times. "We apologize and will correct it going forward."

On Nov. 5, nine people suffered fatal injuries in a crush of fans after panic ripped through the crowd during rapper Travis Scott's set at the Astroworld Festival in Houston.

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