Trafford Centre statement after chaotic crowd surge at opening of world's largest JD Sports
The Trafford Centre has issued a statement after a crowd surged forward into a new JD Sports store during its official opening.
More than 1,000 people had gathered outside the enormous store to watch it being opened by Usain Bolt and YouTubers Beta Squad.
The atmosphere reached massive excitement as attendees raced up and down a track outside the store, while fans screamed ecstatically.
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All the doors at the new outlet were opened for crowds to enter in along the entire length of the new shop.
In a statement issued after the chaotic scenes this morning, a spokesperson for the Trafford Centre said: "There was a lot of excitement moments after the store officially opened, and we did see a small section of the crowd move quickly into the store.
"Our officers were on hand to manage this, and we are pleased that everyone was able to enjoy the launch safely."
After a 10 second countdown to the opening the crowd surged forward with one group seen running into the store, with others piling in behind them.
People at the front were propelled forward by those behind with the entire crowd, which appeared to be made up mostly of teenagers and children, piling into the store in what seemed like a matter of seconds.
Fortunately the store was large enough to accommodate the enormous influx of visitors.
The Trafford Centre spokesperson added: 'The JD launch was incredibly popular this morning, and we had robust plans in place to ensure the health and safety of everyone, which is always our absolute priority.
"We reactively restricted numbers to the area, had barriers in place, and deployed significant numbers of extra security staff and police officers to ensure crowd safety.
"We'd like to reassure everyone that events of this size are always planned rigorously, with contingencies in place, and health and safety is always at the forefront of all our plans.'
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