Brixton Academy: Security worker dies after Asake gig crush

A second woman has died after being injured in a crush at a gig at London’s Brixton O2 Academy.

Gabrielle Hutchinson, 23, who was working as a security contractor that night, died in hospital in the early hours of Monday.

The concert, by Afro-pop singer Asake, was cut short on Thursday after a “large number of people” tried to force their way inside, the Met Police said.

Mother-of-two Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, from Newham, east London, died on Saturday.

A 21-year-old woman remains in a critical condition in hospital following the crush at Asake’s third sold-out show at the south London venue last week.

The Met said: “At this time we have established that the three women who were critically injured, including Rebecca Ikumelo and Gabrielle Hutchinson who have tragically died, were all in the foyer of the building.”

It added detectives were “working hard to establish exactly what happened on Thursday night”, and described the investigation as “large and complex”.

Police are reviewing CCTV, phone footage, speaking to witnesses and conducting forensic examinations.

The first officers were reported to be on the scene at 21:11 GMT, seven minutes after they were called.

Videos on social media showed the crowd stretching from the road outside to the venue’s doors, one of which was smashed.

Ch Supt Colin Wingrove, policing commander for Lambeth and Southwark, said: “It is devastating news that a second person has lost their life following the events on Thursday.

“I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to Gabrielle’s family at this unimaginably difficult time.”

Florence Eshalomi, the MP for Vauxhall whose constituency includes Brixton, said she felt “utterly heartbroken” by the deaths of the two women.

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “devastated”.

He said: “Gabrielle, like Rebecca Ikumelo, had her whole life ahead of her and had every right to come home safe and well after her shift, working at Brixton Academy.”

Ms Ikumelo was a nursing graduate who had been attending the concert.

Her cousin Babatunde Oyejide told the BBC she was a “true, special person” and encouraged people to send prayers to Ms Ikumelo’s partner and children.

He said: “She was a very loved person in the neighbourhood and a very caring person, family orientated. She is going to be truly missed and we love her forever.”

Asake, who had urged fans without tickets not to turn up at the venue before his first Brixton concert, released a statement following Ms Ikumelo’s death in which he said he was “devastated”.

“I am overwhelmed with grief and could never have imagined anything like this happening,” he wrote.

Academy Music Group, which owns and runs the venue, previously said its “thoughts are with everyone affected by this devastating news at this extremely difficult time”.