Woman injured during Brixton Academy crush dies

A woman who was critically injured during a crush at the O2 Brixton Academy on Thursday night has died.

Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, of Newham, died after sustaining injuries during the crush at the sold-out gig for Nigerian offbeats singer Asake.

Two other women – aged 21 and 23 – remain in a critical condition.

Specialist officers are continuing to provide support to the family of Ms Ikumelo

A post-mortem examination will be held tomorrow at Greenwich Public Mortuary.

Police were called at 9.35pm on Thursday to the famous Stockwell Road music venue, following reports that a large number of people were attempting to force entry to the venue.

Officers, London Ambulance Service (LAS) and London Fire Brigade attended, and found a number of people with injuries, believed to have been caused by crushing.

As well as the eight in need of urgent attention, LAS treated two other less seriously injured people at the scene.

One theory for the crush is that many without tickets were attempting to gain entry to the gig. The concert was cancelled.

Speaking at the scene yesterday, Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, policing commander for Lambeth and Southwark, said: “I’d like to extend my sympathies to all those who have been affected.

“Having seen some of the really upsetting images on social media our thoughts are with them.

“An urgent investigation is currently under way led by detectives from our Specialist Crime Command and cordons remain in place as officers continue to work at the scene.

“This is still a fast-moving and evolving picture and we are working to establish the events that led up to the incident.

“We are also aware of a vast amount of footage on social media, and of course this will be examined as part of the investigation along with footage from officers’ body worn video cameras.

“We are working incredibly closely with our partners and community members and would like to thank them for their support so far in the investigation. We would also like to thank people for coming forward with information.

“We have set up an online page for the submission of photographs and videos.

“There were around 4,000 potential witnesses present at the time of this incident and we want to urge any members of the public with information to come forward.

“We need your information as we try to establish what happened as quickly as we can.”

Any witnesses who are yet to speak with police are asked to call 101 ref 6725/15Dec.

Pictured top: The scene outside Brixton O2 Academy yesterday morning (Picture: PA)