Nineteen people were injured when a stampede broke out Sunday at a beachfront motorcycle rally in South Carolina, local officials reported. Photo courtesy Horry County, S.C., Fire Rescue/Facebook
May 24 (UPI) -- Nineteen people were injured Sunday during a stampede that broke out during a popular motorcycle rally in Atlantic Beach, S.C., local officials said.
Three of those hurt in the stampede were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries while the others were treated for minor injuries and released in what Horry County Fire Rescue officials called a "mass casualty event."
Crews were dispatched to South Ocean Boulevard in Atlantic Beach at 1:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday during the Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival, hailed as the largest African American motorcycle rally in the United States and held annually on Memorial Day weekend in the small South Carolina coastal town.
In a statement issued to media outlets, Interim Town Manager Titus Leaks said South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and state Department of Natural Resources personnel quickly took control of the situation, which they assessed was triggered by individuals who "had simply started running."
