RAPPER Akon says he leapt into the crowd at his concert last night to stop brawling fans who triggered havoc at his performance. As the HiSense Arena gig in Melbourne with fellow rapper T-Pain reached full steam, Akon claims he was forced to stop his concert, as rival gangs appeared to launch brutal attacks on each other in the crowd.
Footage of the show already posted on YouTube shows the rapper walking through the crowd calling on them to "calm down", and while the brawling in the centre appears to calm briefly, his walk through the throng of people also seems to stir the crowd up more.
Police have confirmed two security guards were among at least 18 people who needed medical treatment as a result of violence. Nine people were taken to hospital in the bloody aftermath of the show.
They received lacerations, bruising and facial injuries as they stopped at least 50 people trying to force their way into the venue about 9pm. One man was arrested in connection with the assault on the security guard.
Another six people have formally reported being assaulted to police. It has taken two years for the notorious rapper to be allowed back into Australia, after he convinced authorities previous criminal convictions should not stop him performing.
Fan Natalie Petrovski says the fighting continued for the entire show, and she was shocked as the lights came on and the arena stopped to watch the fight. “The singer actually got off the stage and walked right into the crowd where the fights were occurring to try and put a stop to the pathetic behaviour,” she says.
She says staff and patrons were punched and kicked, with some left “lying unconscious on the floor”. Several fans were injured including youths suffering concussion, cuts and black eyes.
Melbourne Park marketing manager Jo Juler confirmed there were “crowd behavioural issues” at the event, but stressed “it didn’t get out of control”. She believed Akon leapt into the mosh pit as part of the act, but had not intervened to stop the fight. “It’s just a good publicity stunt,” Ms Juler said.
Father of two Dominic said he phoned triple-0 after his sons, aged 17 and 19, contacted him to tell them of the worsening situation. “The boys rang me and I heard so much screaming, guys were getting bottled over the heads in the main arena,’’ he said.
He said his sons told him event organisers tried to stop the concert twice to settle the crowd. “When I arrived there, there were 10 police cars and ambulances," he said. Police spokesman Adam West said he was unaware about violence inside the arena, but confirmed police remained outside the venue as they prevented trouble outside