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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Zoe Delaney

Asake planned 'special announcement' at gig before '3000 people broke doors'

Asake took to social media hours before his gig was cancelled last night to tell fans 'a special announcement' would be made during the show.

The singer, 27, shared posts to both his Instagram and Twitter followers celebrating a career achievement at 12.04pm on Thursday, ahead of his gig in Brixton which saw a suspected crush leave four fans in critical condition.

Asake has since issued a statement regarding last night's incident, saying his heart is with those who were injured last night and he is in the process of reaching out to individuals.

Emergency services rushed to the O2 Academy on Stockwell Road following the reports of crowd trouble at 9.35pm on Thursday night [December 16].

Metropolitan Police say eight people have been taken to hospital, with four in critical condition, after finding "a number of people with injuries believed to have been caused by crushing" ahead of Asake 's last scheduled gig in the U.K.

Asake had been celebrating selling out another show ahead of the scenes at his London gig last night (Instagram)
The singer's performance at London's O2 Academy was abandoned part-way through (@inayahlxve/Twitter)

Did you witness the scenes outside Asake's gig at the O2 in Brixton? Were you caught up in the crowd? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk

Posting to his 2.1 million followers on Instagram around lunchtime on Thursday, hours before the gig, Asake shared an image that revealed one of his upcoming shows scheduled for December 22 in Lagos is now sold out.

The singer, birth name Ahmed Ololade, also shared the same graphic on Twitter, adding: "Thank you Lagos I have a special announcement for Lagos tomorrow and a special announcement for London tonight [multiple red heart emojis].

Asake's gig last night was abandoned part-way through due to the scenes outside. It was the third of three sold-out shows the Nigerian singer, birth name Ahmed Ololade, had performed in Brixton.

Asake celebrated selling out another performance hours before his cancelled Brixton gig (Instagram)
Thousands of fans were left outside in the cold as the gig was cancelled due to safety concerns (@__93_Mide/Twitter)

Asake broke his silence regarding last night's incident on his Instagram Stories this morning [December 16]. You can read his full statement here.

Metropolitan Police said eight people were taken to hospital with four in a critical condition after finding "a number of people with injuries believed to have been caused by crushing".

Fans of the Nigerian singer were said to have been locked outside in freezing temperatures, leading to some trying to force their way into the venue and the concert being cancelled.

Video footage appears to show clashes between fans and police, along with a large emergency service presence at the scene.

The cancellation announcement was made on stage and met with uproar.

Asake has broken his silence following the disaster (Getty Images)
Police have issued a statement urging people with mobile phone footage to come forward (@DammySNM/Twitter)

Speaking to the fans they said: "The reason we have to stop the show is because they have breached the doors. You've got 3,000 people have broken the doors outside and because of security the police have asked us to close the show."

As boos reportedly began to drown the messaging out, they continued: "This is nothing to do with us," before adding: "This is basically - listen to what I am saying..."

"Listen, for your own safety, for your own safety, listen, please. For your own safety, please, please, please. There are people who've breached the door. They have broken in and security are trying to help with it."

Fans online have been showing their support for the Nigerian Afrobeats singer and songwriter, who also goes by the name Mr Money.

Asake's fans have shown their support for the singer online (Getty Images)

Replying to one of the many videos shared on Twitter, one social media user wrote: "Not Asake’s fault at all, seems people who didn’t have tickets turned up with fake tickets or just broke their way in so capacity was reached with thousands of paying ticket holders outside. Grown cheap adults ruining it for everyone."

Another added: "Asake has had the worst luck with these UK concerts. I can imagine he’d be reluctant to come back."

Lambeth Police are urging witnesses and those with mobile phone footage from last night's incident to come forward.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police reads: "Detectives are investigating the circumstances which led to four people sustaining critical injuries in Brixton.

Police no arrests have been made following last night's incident (@__93_Mide/Twitter)
Any witnesses are urged to make contact with the police (@DammySNM/Twitter)

"Police were called at 21:35hrs on Thursday, 15 December to the O2 Academy on Stockwell Road, SW9 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.

"Eight people were taken by ambulance to the hospital, four of whom remain in a critical condition. LAS treated two other less seriously injured people at the scene.

"An urgent investigation is underway led by detectives from Specialist Crime. Cordons remain in place at the location as officers continue work at the scene. Nobody has been arrested."

Commander Ade Adelekan, Met Police Gold Commander, added: "Any witnesses who are yet to speak with police are asked to call 101 ref 6725/15Dec. If you have mobile phone footage that may assist police, please make contact via @MetCC on Twitter.

"We will provide further details about ways to share footage in due course."

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