Traumatic asphyxial deaths due to an uncontrolled crowd.
Nine people died of traumatic asphyxia due to an uncontrolled crowd at a community basketball game in New York City in 1991. We reviewed the circumstances, postmortem findings, and the causes of death. The majority of people had petechiae of the conjunctivae and face consistent with chest compression. There were minimal superficial blunt injuries and no fractures or acute intoxications. These deaths are often incorrectly attributed to blunt force injuries, while the cause typically is asphyxia due to chest compression.
Gill
James R
JR
New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner and Department of Forensic Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA. gill@ocme.nyc.gov
Landi
Kristen
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D001344:Autopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D010200:Panic; D013177:Sports