The family of one of the people killed in a crowd surge outside a London concert have urged the performer to appeal to his fans for information about the crush a year after it happened.
Gaby Hutchinson, 23, a security guard, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, were killed in a crush after hundreds of fans without tickets were allegedly let in to see the Nigerian star Asake at the O2 Brixton Academy on this day last year.
The venue faced the threat of permanent closure after the incident as the Metropolitan police urged the council to remove its licence. It was allowed to continue operating if it meets 77 “extensive and robust” new conditions set by Lambeth council’s licensing subcommittee.
Hutchinson’s sister Kelsey, 26, from Billericay, Essex, urged Asake to help the police investigating the incident by issuing an appeal to his fans to come forward with any relevant information.
She said: “The singer has such a big influence over his crowd and his followers, and I think the biggest way anyone could help the police is if the singer asked them to come forward with what they heard that night, what they recorded, anything will help and the singer’s got the most power in this situation.”
Asake has paid tribute to the victims but has not issued any appeal for information about the incident.
Hutchinson said: “The singer has never made a formal acknowledgment of our family.”
The Metropolitan police have released CCTV images of people they wish to speak to in relation to the crush. The force has so far made one arrest as part of the investigation, in October.
Hutchinson, her sister Nina, and Ikumelo’s parents, Yetunde Olodo and Anthony Ikumelo, issued a renewed appeal for information.
Anthony Ikumelo, 63, of Canning Town, said there were “still lots of questions to be answered” and he urged anyone with information to come forward.
“We don’t know what happened to her, we don’t know how she died and we’re still waiting for information as to how this happened,” he said. “The most important thing is we don’t want this to happen to another family, so the earlier we have this information the better so that other people could be prevented from suffering the same loss in future.”
Olodo, 60, of Stratford, said: “We just want justice. She has two young children, they are asking questions now: ‘Where is mummy? When is mummy coming back?’ What can we tell them? They are only five and seven, they don’t seem to understand what is happening. All we want is justice for Rebecca, for people to come forward and say what they know about the incident.”
The senior investigating officer, Det Ch Insp Nigel Penney, said: “We are still tirelessly working extremely hard, trying to ascertain the actual detail of how this tragic event happened. We have conducted interviews, into certain individuals, certain companies that we believe are connected with the tragedy.”
Representatives of Asake have been approached for comment.
