On the first anniversary of the fatal crowd crush that occurred during an Asake show at London's Brixton Academy, the families of the two people who died have called on any witnesses to the tragedy who are yet to speak to police to come forward.
They also want Asake to make a similar call, noting that while the musician has paid tribute to the victims, he has not yet issued any formal appeal for information about the incident.
Kelsey Hutchinson, sister of Gaby Hutchinson, a security guard who died while working at the show, told reporters: “The singer has such a big influence over his crowd and his followers, and I think the biggest way anyone could help the police is if the singer asked them to come forward with what they heard that night, what they recorded, anything will help, and the singer’s got the most power in this situation".
Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Kenny from London's Metropolitan Police also confirmed that, even though we are now a year on from the incident, more information from witnesses is required. "We're still going through thousands of documents to ascertain how this happened", he told the BBC, "but we still need help from [people who] were there. Even though it's twelve months, we still need people to come forward".
The crowd crush occurred during the final show of a three night run for Asake at the South London venue. The building was at capacity as the show began, but there were still crowds of people outside trying to get in. It's been alleged that a sizeable number of the people inside the venue did not have valid tickets, meaning many of those left outside were genuine ticket-holders.
Brixton Academy has been closed ever since the incident and the Metropolitan Police recommended to local authority Lambeth Council that the building's current operator, Live Nation's Academy Music Group, should have its licence revoked. However, in September, the council's licensing committee said that the venue could re-open under AMG's management providing 77 conditions were met to boost safety in the building.
The other person who died was concert-goer Rebecca Ikumelo. Her father Anthony Ikumelo also called for more witnesses to come forward, adding there are “still lots of questions to be answered". Police need as much information as possible, he noted, to ensure lessons are learned. "The most important thing", he said, "is we don’t want this to happen to another family".
In a new statement, AMG said that the company "continues to be devastated by the events of 15 Dec 2022 and our heartfelt condolences remain with the family and friends of Rebecca Ikumelo and Gaby Hutchinson". It added that it is determined to learn all the appropriate lessons to ensure the incident can never be repeated, citing its “comprehensive plan” for re-opening the venue safely.
As for when that re-opening will actually happen, AMG concluded: "There will be an announcement for the reopening timeline in due course".