The invaders were far too many for the space inside -
the Stadium and overflowed on to the ground. Long after the game was due to begin it was almost impossible to see the grass for the people. It looked for some time as though the game would have to be abandoned, but the police, headed by a particularly skilful officer on a white horse, stuck to their point that the game should take place if they could manage it, and gradually the people were forced back far -enough for the game to be played. Even then the crowd kept oozing at points on to the- touch lines and almost into the goals. The estimated capacity of the Stadium is for 127,000 persons, and probably at least 150,000 actually got inside.- Of course a good deal of damage was done by the stampede and there were many casualties, a certain number of which had to be sent for treatment at the hospitals.. A crowd of such a size is a very dangerous thing indeed ; it has an involuntary momentum of its own which is utterly beyond control. Everybody thinks that every- body else is pushing and this mysterious pressure is all the more dangerous because nobody knows where it is coming from.
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