Stampede at German Love Parade festival kills 15
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At least 15 people have been killed at the Love Parade electronic music festival in the German city of Duisburg, police have said.
Police had been trying to stop people reaching the parade area because of overcrowding.
But the revellers panicked at a tunnel entrance. About 100 people were also injured, dozens seriously.
Organisers had said they expected more than one million people to attend the event.
Event continues
The stampede occurred at about 1700 local time (1500 GMT).
Love Parade Continue reading the main story Techno-parade celebrating club culture, held in Germany since 1989
Originated in peace event in Berlin staged four months before fall of Berlin Wall
Seen as an institution in Berlin through 1990s, but suffered from increasing tension with city officials
Cancelled in 2004 and 2005
Held in the Ruhr region of western Germany since 2007, with 2009 event cancelled
Duisburg police initially reported 10 deaths but later raised the toll to 15.
At least 10 people were resuscitated at the scene.
Reuters news agency quoted police commissioner Juergen Kieskemper as saying the situation had become "very chaotic".
He said police closed the parade area due to over-crowding. Those trying to get in were told via loudhailer to turn around, but panic broke out.
A number of eyewitnesses say police were warned of a huge crowd build-up and some report seeing dozens of people piled up on one another, the BBC's Tristana Moore in Germany says.
Emergency workers reportedly had difficulty reaching those crushed.
One festival-goer, named Marius, told the Bild newspaper: "There was no escape. People were pressed into the wall. I was afraid I'd die."
Another man told local television: "The pressure from behind become so high that... we couldn't do anything any more. People were just pushed together until they fell over."
Police closed off an elevated motorway bridge to allow helicopters to land and evacuate victims.
City officials were said to have chosen not to evacuate the grounds of the day-long festival immediately, fearing it might spark more panic.
City spokesman Frank Kopatschek said: "The crisis meeting determined not to stop the event because at the moment there are too many people on the grounds."
Many of those attending appeared unaware of what had happened.
The event attracts music fans from all over the world, with floats from Brazil, Russia, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia among other nations.
The floats had been expected to parade through the city for 10 hours.
Many top international DJs also perform.
The event began in Berlin in 1989 as a peace demonstration and developed into a huge open-air music festival.
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A stampede at the entrance of a German music festival, the , today killed nineteen people and injured around a hundred more.

The incident apparently took place due to overcrowding at the entrance to the grounds of the event, located in , Germany, which more than a million people were reported to have attended. Despite warnings by police of overcrowding, more people tried to enter the grounds. There is speculation that the panic may have begun when people fell after trying to cross a barrier, and subsequently spread.

Witness Udo Sandhoefer said that people "climbed up the walls and tried somehow to get into the grounds from the side, and the people in the crowd that moved up simply ran over those who were lying on the ground."

Emergency responders apparently encountered difficulties in reaching those in need of assistance due to the number of people in the area.  Officials also decided not to evacuate the grounds of the event, citing concerns that a larger panic would be sparked if more people knew of the deaths.

A woman attending the event said that "there were piles of injured on the ground, some being resuscitated, others dead and covered with sheets. It was way too full in the afternoon, everybody wanted to get in."

A statement from president  said that "it is terrible that such a catastrophe brought death, suffering and pain to a peaceful festival full of happy young people from many countries."

The mayor of Duisburg, Adolf Sauerland, said that security measures at the event were sufficient, and that an investigation into the incident was already under way.