A young university student has recently passed away due to a surge that occurred outside of a nightclub, which resulted in Burt sustaining a serious head injury. She was in her first year at Durham University and was described as an extraordinary athlete and an outstandingly able student. Burt was among a group of her fellow sailing club members out at Missoula nightclub on Wednesday night when the incident happened near the rear entrance of the club. There were some who claim that there were shambolic moments that happened moments before the crush when a group of people pushed into the 100-person long queue, causing a crowd surge. Witnesses who were there at the scene testified to this.
According to a fellow student who was in the same queue at the time, “You couldn’t control where you were going,” and people were completely at the mercy of the crowd. The rear entrance had been a lot busier than usual because the front entrance was closed, which was unusual for the university’s busiest club night. The rear entrance was reserved for members of student sports clubs while the front was used by everyone else. There were two separate lines of people pushed into just one queue. Additionally, a rival students union night club was no longer running at the same time, meaning that Missoula was probably busier because it was the only sizable club currently operating.
The situation at the rear entrance was deemed a “shambles”, where only one doorman was separating two increasingly growing lines, one of which had about 100 people, while the other had around 30 individuals. The doorman was fighting a losing battle to control the surging crowd, with many in the secondary queue being allowed to jump over into the primary one closer to the nightclub doors. One witness claimed that the main shift happened when a group of 10 to 15 people pushed straight into the first queue, resulting in those from the second queue pushing forward. University students said that there were only two doormen on the rear door and no more than three more in the queues.
When the barrier collapsed, everyone who was standing near it collapsed with it, causing chaos. There were about 600 individuals inside the club and approximately 100 outside in the queue at the time. The venue has now officially been closed while an investigation takes place. The club’s owners, the Stonegate Pub Company, issued a statement saying, “Ten SIA-licensed door supervisors from a specialist security door service company were employed to manage security on the night of the accident.” A massive floral tribute now rests outside the nightclub in memory of the exceptional young woman, Liv Burt, who lost her life in this tragic event.
Stonegate, on Friday, opted to eliminate Durham from its website’s venue list.
Chris Atherton, a senior manager for high-performance at the Royal Yachting Association, lauded Burt’s qualities as a sailor, including her determination, drive, and good sportsmanship.
"Sailing was Olivia’s calling, and her passion for it always radiated. She was amicable to everyone, and a fair competitor in the sailing community who will be dearly missed," he said. "Our hearts go out to the loved ones of Olivia during this mournful period."
