Beyoncé’s final Cowboy Carter tour stop in Atlanta turned into pure chaos when a scared fan caused mass panic at the Vine City MARTA station, leaving concertgoers injured, including one with a broken ankle.
In what sounds like a scene out of a comedy, but turned into a chaotic and painful moment, 11 concertgoers were injured in a stampede at the Vine City MARTA station just after midnight on Tuesday, July 15.
According to MARTA officials, the girl’s terrified reaction to the bug (which some are calling a palmetto bug: Georgia’s not-so-cute cousin of the cockroach) triggered panic as the escalator swarmed with Beyoncé fans leaving Mercedes-Benz Stadium. People started running, yelling, and pushing. And in a matter of seconds, a packed escalator turned into a scene of confusion and injury.
“Just after midnight on Tuesday, July 15, 11 people leaving the Beyoncé concert at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta were injured on an escalator at Vine City Station.
“A person began screaming and running, causing a stampede on the escalator that caused it to temporarily speed up and then stop suddenly,” MARTA’s Senior Director of Communications Stephany Fisher told PEOPLE.
The incident left one person with a broken ankle and seven others hospitalized for cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Two others needed medical attention later, and one person declined hospital transport altogether.
As fans rushed to make sense of the chaos, videos began popping up on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), with witnesses claiming that the scream came from a young girl startled by a bug. One viral post even alleged, “That was my 10-year-old cousin. She saw the roach and ran!”
MARTA Police Chief Scott Kreher confirmed the general account, telling 11Alive News that the stampede was indeed caused by the girl’s reaction to what appeared to be a cockroach or a palmetto bug.
MARTA has since barricaded the escalator, and both MARTA and the escalator manufacturer, Schindler, are conducting an investigation to prevent future incidents.
