6 Charged in 1989 UK Football Stadium Disaster

6 Charged in 1989 UK Football Stadium Disaster
Trevor Hicks (L), whose two daughters Sarah and Victoria died in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, stands with campaigners outside Parr Hall after family members affected by the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster were informed of the charging decisions by the Hillsborough CPS, in Warrington, east of Liverpool on June 28, 2017. PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images
|Updated:

Prosecutors announced criminal charges on Wednesday in the deaths of 95 Liverpool fans in the 1989 Hillsborough soccer stadium crush.

The event, Britain’s worst sporting disaster, was originally blamed on drunken fans, an explanation the families of the victims long rejected.

The deaths took place in to enclosed, standing-only pens, designated for Liverpool supporters. Chief superintendent David Duckenfield, responsible for police operations at the match, had ordered a gate to be opened to relieve overcrowding outside the turnstiles but it led to even more Liverpool supporters crushing into the overcrowded central pens.

Duckenfield had told Football Association figures shortly after the disaster that fans had forced the gate open, a statement he later recanted.

Sue Hemming, head of the special crime and counter-terrorism division at the Crown Prosecution Service, announced charges against Duckenfield in a statement she read aloud.

Tributes for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster are seen at Anfield in Liverpool, Britain on April 15, 2016. (REUTERS/Phil Noble)
Tributes for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster are seen at Anfield in Liverpool, Britain on April 15, 2016. REUTERS/Phil Noble
Matthew Little
Matthew Little
Author
Matthew Little is a senior editor with Epoch Health.