On the morning of August 20, thousands of audiences gathered in front of the gate of the Opera House (Hanoi) waiting to get free tickets for the national concert "Vietnam in Me".
However, due to the overwhelming and chaotic situation, the Organizing Committee (OC) had to announce the suspension of ticket sales after only a few minutes.
The situation in front of the gate of the Opera House was even more chaotic because of this sudden announcement. Thousands of people jostled and pushed, many of whom fell, had difficulty breathing, and fainted. The audience "cried out to heaven" because they waited for many hours, and finally could not receive tickets.
After the Great Theater broke up on the morning of August 20, on social networks, many audiences spoke up in their anger, recounting the terrible situation they had gone through. Some audiences even said that they almost escaped death in a flash and were very scared and haunted by the incident.
Nguyen Nhi (22 years old) shared that she had been queuing since 3am at the main gate because the organizers had not announced which gate the tickets would be distributed at. But then, the new side gate was the ticket gate, leading to people at the main gate in the middle and in the front being pushed back. At this time, the chaos occurred, causing many groups of people to fall and push each other.
I and 3-4 people were crushed. It was only when I could not breathe and cried to cry for help that security arrived to pull us out. There were people who could not walk and needed to get inside. Even now, when I think back, I still feel very scared, Nguyen Nhi said.
Audience Chau Anh (27 years old) also shared her horrifying experience when she was so trapped in the crowd that she could not breathe: "A lot of people fainted, I almost had to get on the bus for the ambulance. It was really chaotic and gave me a chance to think about the Itaewon tragedy in Korea.
According to the reporter's records, the audience lined up from 2-3am in front of the Opera House gate. By around 7am, thousands of people were already crowded. The Organizing Committee opened the gate before the planned 9:00 a.m. But at around 9:05 a.m., there was a notice to stop distributing tickets due to overload.
On the evening of August 20, the organizers of the concert "Vietnam in Me" said that they will continue to distribute free tickets on August 21 and 22 at the Opera House (Hanoi). The ticket distribution time is in the morning from 9:00 - 11:30, in the afternoon from 13:00 - 16:30.
The organizers note that when receiving tickets, audiences must queue up according to instructions, maintain a civilized, polite attitude and absolutely do not jostle, push or cause disorder in public places.
The audience will have to present their Citizen ID card for the staff to check to avoid overlapping information. The Organizing Committee especially noted that tickets cannot be bought, sold, or transferred in any form. The organizers have the right to refuse to issue tickets if they are found to have violated regulations.
On social networking forums, many people questioned why in the digital age, where all procedures have been digitized, the organizers still distribute tickets in person, which is easy to disrupt the match.
The program "Vietnam in Me" brings together many famous artists loved by young people such as Soobin Hoang Son, Hoa Minzy, Erik, Duc Phuc, Anh Tu, Quan AP, Duong Hoang Yen and the band Chillies.
The concert will take place at 8:00 p.m. on August 26, at the National Exhibition Center (Dong Anh, Hanoi).
