LONDON: Many Malaysian tourists and shoppers taking advantage of Black Friday in Oxford Street were caught in what was described as a near stampede; running for their safety together with thousands of others, in an incident apparently triggered by fights on the platform of an underground station.
Caught in the pandemonium were 31-year-olds health ministry officer Herlina Hidayah Mohd Faiz and husband Amir Hakim, a staff member of Petronas. Together with their 3-year-old son, Amir Irfan, the family had just arrived in London and completed shopping in Primark, near Marble Arch.
“We had finished shopping but I wanted to see something else and my husband waited with our son who was sleeping in the stroller near the exit.
“I went to the other entrance and then saw a lot of people running towards my direction. At first, I didn’t run, but when people were all running, I started running and shouted out my husband’s name. He came out,” said Herlina, who is also five months pregnant.
“People were pushing and screaming. I was worried about my wife. I was scared that she would fall during the rush. So we waited,” added Amir.
When they decided to go out again, the second wave of people rushed in.
“Someone picked our son’s stroller and brought it inside. It was just chaotic. People were running but did not actually know what was happening,” Amir said.
They decided to wait for a while but later joined a crowd gathering at the back exit. Once there, another security guard told them that the police had instructed that no one was to leave, but as they were already near the exit, the crowd left.
They met a group of Malaysians who had just left Selfridges, who told them that they “heard about gunshots”.
“There were police all over the place. People were saying that the police were chasing some people. No one actually knew what was happening.
“We were happy to meet another Malaysian group. We felt safe and waited at the bus stop and later took a bus back to Paddington,” said Herlina who had thought her family would experience such an incident in their first visit to London.
A group of Malaysian ladies shopping at Primark were also caught in the chaos on Oxford Street.
Datin Ezaty Haslinda Shahudin who was with two friends were already at the exit of the popular store when she saw a huge crowd running towards them.
“It was chaotic. People were crying and screaming and shopping bags were flying all over the place,” said Ezaty who had lived in London from 1998 to 2005.
“People were running towards us. They were screaming and shouting, ‘Run! Run! Run! But no one knew why. I pulled my friends with me and crossed over to Wallis on the other side of Oxford Street.
“We wanted to go to Mayfair but the roads were closed. So we stayed somewhere near the Cumberland Hotel and walked back to our apartment,” she added.
Ezaty said the crowd had stampeded through whomever or whatever before them, leaving a trail of scattered shopping bags.
At the other end of Oxford Street, near Oxford Circus where the incident was believed to have taken place, a Malaysian student was waiting for her friend when she heard something like gunshots.
“At first she thought it was fireworks,” said the student who wished to remain anonymous.
She saw a group of people standing in a circle with more joining over, thinking there was a street performance as is common during this festive season.
However, something like a gunshot was then heard and people scrambled to safety, she said.
“I saw children in pushchairs and the disabled in wheelchairs being trampled on. I was scared and wanted to call my friend to tell her not to come but there was no network at all. All the shops started closing their doors. Some wouldn’t let anyone in,” she added.
The incident happened on a day when the popular shopping centre was swarming with people taking advantage of the slash in prices in all the stores in Oxford Street.
Oxford Circus station and Bond Street station were temporarily closed, shops pulled down their shutters some al
lowing shoppers go in for their safety. Nearby hotels reported having their lobbies full of people just rushing in for safety.
As people fled in panic, it was reported that sixteen people were injured; one patient was transferred to a major trauma centre for leg injuries, while eight people were taken to central London hospitals for minor injuries. Seven patients were treated at the scene, according to the London Ambulance Service.