The 25-year-old Australian nurse who was taken to hospital after an accident at Fatboy Slim’s Brighton Beach Party has died from her injuries. Karen Manders, who lived in east London, died yesterday at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. A Sussex Police spokeswoman described her death as "a tragic accident" and confirmed they are not treating her death as suspicious. During the event itself a man in his 40s died on the beach after suffering a heart attack, although his death is being treated as coincidental to the event.
With local authorities stating the event should not happen again, Fatboy Slim has told reporters he will not repeat the beach party unless the public's safety could be guaranteed. He told the local Evening Argus newspaper: "We probably won't do it again. I don't take safety issues lightly. I will only do it again if we can guarantee people's safety and if that many people are going to come then we can't." He admitted he began to worry that a "nightmare scenario" might occur as the crowds grew and grew. "For me it was a fantastic event but I did have a bit of a wobble. I felt very stressed because at one point I thought my nightmare scenario, that I might be responsible for someone being hurt or killed, was coming true."
A massive clean-up operation - partly paid for by the DJ - was still underway yesterday amid reports that many pieces of broken glass would prove impossible to retrieve from between the beach pebbles. Chief Superintendent Doug Rattray, who led the police operation over the weekend, has said Brighton should consider ticketing any future events of this kind. The Edinburgh Hogmany street party has been ticketed ever since the crowds who filled the city around midnight got out of control. Tickets are free and distributed first come first served by a central box office. Bars and restaurants have passes for their customers, and a set amount are reserved for locals. "If an event like this was to happen again in Brighton we would have to look at changes,” Rattray told reporters. “I do not think we will close the city down as a public place for entertainment, but clearly the public's safety needs to be looked at."
Whether other events already planned for the area will now go ahead, including a T4 party this Sunday at which bands are scheduled to play on the beach, is unclear.