British organiser quizzed on snowboard deaths

A BRITON is being investigated by Austrian police over the disaster that struck a weekend snowboarding festival at the ski resort of Innsbruck, killing five people and injuring 39.

The organiser Andrew Hourmount, 39, is among those being investigated for negligence leading to manslaughter over safety measures at the "Air and Style" display when a barrier gave way at the Bergisel stadium and the crowd panicked . The five who died were aged 14 to 21. Four were Austrian teenagers and the fifth was a 21-year-old Australianfrom Sydney. The exit barrier that gave way pitched people down a steep slope on top of each other.

Mr Herwig van Staa, the Innsbruck mayor, told state television that "many youths were heavily intoxicated". Beer and hot mulled wine were sold at the event.

Rescue workers and police sources said it appeared that a crowd of spectators leaving the Olympic stadium had slipped on an icy slope and slid into the barrier that gave way, causing a pile-up and panic in the mass of people behind.

Apparently, several sporting associations had warned recently that the stadium, built for the 1964 winter Olympics, was "no longer fit to use". It was to be refitted in 2001.

A company spokesman, Thomas Blazek, denied the safety and security measures were inadequate.

"Andrew Hourmount knows how to organise these kinds of events," he said. "This was the seventh "Air and Style" festival and there had never been an accident before.

"What happened was a total tragedy and bad luck. There was 20 per cent more security than was asked for, with 160 security guards instead of 130 as well as 60 policemen in uniform and 20 more in plain clothes."

Mr Hourmount said: "Nothing could have been done to make the event safer. This was a tragedy."