It was not known if the can was the one whose spray set off the stampede at about 1 a.m. Saturday in the Lanterna Azzurra (Blue Lantern) disco in Corinaldo. A paramilitary police commander declined to confirm reports that a 16-year-old boy had been identified as the sprayer.</s>Transcript for 2 criminal investigations after 6 killed during concert in Italy

And news tonight about the deadly stampede in Italy. Police launching two criminal investigations into the chaos. Two people died. Authorities believe the club was overcrowded. The crush of people likely ignited by somebody using pepper spray. Here's Julia Macfarlane. Reporter: This was the moment the horror unfolded. Investigators are reviewing this bystander's footage of the accident at that Italian nightclub late Friday. New details tonight. Italian police tell ABC news two parallel criminal investigations are now under way. One, the suspected use of an irritant spray, such as mace or pepper spray, that is believed to have started the stampede. The other, violations of the nightclub's occupancy restrictions. The venue was only supposed to hold around 800 people. That night, almost 1,400 tickets had been sold for the event. However, it's not clear how many people were in attendance. Ticket sales are disorganized in Italy. Events are often oversold. It's one theory that investigators are looking into, as footage circulates of the disco's walkway, crumbling under the weight of so many people rushing out all at once. Police haven't confirmed reports in Italian media that a minor is suspected of spraying that irritant substance, sparking the panic, but they have told ABC news that a statement will be released tomorrow. Tom?</s>A pepper spray intended for use on violent prisoners in England and Wales has been approved despite being used in non-violent incidents more than a third of the time in a recent trial, contravening official guidance, the Guardian has learned.

The Pava incapacitant spray, which is notably stronger than CS gas, causes acute pain if sprayed directly into the eyes. One officer described its effects as “unbearable, like your skin peeling off” after being affected when it was deployed.

Last December a six-month pilot project was launched in four prisons – Hull, Preston, Risley and Wealstun – where, it was stated, Pava would be used as a “personal protection aid for officers to use reactively to defend themselves or others against serious attack”.

A report on the trial said the spray was used 50 times in the pilot jails, including 18 times to stop prisoner-on-staff assaults and 14 times to stop prisoner-on-prisoner assaults. The remaining 18 incidents comprised eight cases of passive non-compliance, seven of aggressive non-compliance, two of active self-harm and one unspecified “incident at height” – all of which were non-violent and outside the stated guidelines.

The report found that levels of violence continued to rise in the four jails where Pava was tested. Despite those findings, the spray will now be issued to all officers in state-run jails.

Staff in private sector prisons will not be allowed to use it. Discussions are taking place between the prison service and the Prison Officers Association about equipping staff in female and juvenile prisons.

The incapacitant spray, dispensed from a hand-held canister containing a solution of pelargonic acid vanillylamide, has an effective range of up to four metres. It has been approved by the Home Office for use by police forces since 2004.

In October the prison service announced that the trials had been successful and the use of Pava would be rolled out across all prisons in England and Wales. The evaluation report on the trials has not been been published, but Rob Allen, the co-director of Justice and Prisons, obtained a copy via a freedom of information request.

The report says: “Some staff were developing an over-reliance on Pava as a way of resolving conflict and used the spray to enforce rules and gain compliance when it was not clearly the last resort, or when more time could have been spent talking [to the prisoner].”

Those using Pava were positive about the spray, even though staff were affected by its use on 13 occasions. The report said staff played down their descriptions of the impact of the spray on prisoners, describing it as a “minor use of force”.

Rates of violence in prisons in England and Wales are at an all-time high and rising. The report said: “Overall violence levels continued to rise across all the pilot jails during the period of the trials.”

John Podmore, a former prison governor who ran jails in the high-security estate, argued that the use of Pava would only escalate conflict. He asked why the report had not been made public, saying: “Justice minister Rory Stewart promised that the prison service would be more transparent. So why was this report kept under wraps?”

A Prison Service spokesperson said Pava incapacitant spray helped prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners, as well as being an additional tool when dealing with violent offenders. “Prison officers must complete specialist training before being allowed to carry the spray, ensuring it is only used professionally, safely and lawfully,” the spokesperson said.</s>ROME — Italian police investigating a deadly nightclub stampede said Sunday they found a pepper spray can and were questioning dozens of witnesses after accounts by concertgoers that a teenage boy had sprayed an irritating substance, causing the mad rush by the crowd to flee.

It wasn’t known whether the can found was the one that apparently set off the stampede about 1 a.m. Saturday in a crowd awaiting a rapper’s performance in the Lanterna Azzurra (Blue Lantern) disco in the small town of Corinaldo, said the Carabiniere paramilitary police commander of Ancona province, Col. Cristian Carrozza.

He also declined to confirm Italian media reports that a 16-year-old boy had been identified as the sprayer and would be questioned by juvenile court officials.

Five teenagers, all juveniles, and a woman who had accompanied her 11-year-old daughter to the concert, died in the crush of fleeing concertgoers who toppled over a railing atop a cement ramp outside an exit. The railing gave way, sending young people tumbling over it and landing on top of each other in the area below the ramp, about 1.5 feet below.

On Saturday, prosecutors and Italy’s premier and interior minister told reporters that nearly 1,400 tickets had been sold, while the disco could safely hold only 870 people, with the capacity of the room of the concert itself set at about 460.

On Sunday, Carrozza said a count of ticket stubs indicated that about 600 tickets were used for entry. It was unclear if others might have gotten in without having tickets checked by club personnel.

One of the DJs, Marco Cecchini, said he was sure that more than just one room of the disco was open, in addition to the one with the 460-person capacity.

“I’ve done 40-50 evenings in that place, and, sincerely, there weren’t so many people. I’d estimate maybe 800-900 people, but all the rooms were open,” the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Cecchini, who is the son of one of the disco’s managers, as saying.

Several parents whose children had gone to the concert Saturday brought cell phones to police to show videos of the disco’s premises in case the visuals could help in the investigation, ANSA said.

Seven of the more than 50 people injured in the stampede remained in critical condition Sunday, while the remaining patients were either already discharged or about to be discharged after their condition improved, doctors said.

After Interior Minister Matteo Salvini insisted that safety codes for public places be rigorously respected, police overnight shut down two discos in the south, near the port city of Salerno, for apparent overcrowding.

Frances D’Emilio is an Associated Press writer.</s>According to the La Repubblica, the teenager who could have used the pepper spray has been found thanks to witness accounts. The prosecutors working on the case have not talked to the suspect yet.

READ MORE: Panic, Stampede in Italian Club Leave at Least 6 Dead, Dozens Injured (PHOTOS)

The reports come after a stampede occurred at a rap concert that took place in the nightclub early on Saturday. Six people, including five minors, were killed and around 60 others were hospitalized. The panic was reportedly caused by a pepper spray used by one of the guests.</s>omersukrugoksu/iStock(ROME) — Six people are dead and at least 120 people are injured after being trampled by a panicked crowd running out of an Italian disco.

The stampede occurred at the Lanterna Azzurra in Madonna del Piano di Corinaldo, near Ancona — a city on the Adriatic coast, east of Florence — during a concert for Italian rapper Sfera Ebbasta.

Witnesses said that panic ensued when an acrid smell started permeating the disco between midnight and 1 a.m. local time, according to Italian news agencies. Some compared it to mace or pepper spray, though police officials said they were not ready to confirm those details.

The six people who died included five minors and an adult. The adult, identified only as Eleonora, had gone to the concert with her daughter, who survived, according to Italian news agency Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), the nation’s largest wire service.

All six who died were crushed by others who had fallen five feet off a walkway outside of one of the disco’s emergency exits, Ancona Police Chief Oreste Capocasa told ABC News.

Capocasa said that the railings on the walkway collapsed, causing concertgoers to fall.

Capocasa said that firefighters and magistrates were investigating whether there was overcrowding. The disco could only fit 870 people but 1,400 tickets to the concert were sold, he said.

He said that authorities are still trying to piece together the sequence of events, and whether the spraying of some sort of substance sparked the panic.

“We could not because after such a tragic event, witnesses weren’t in a fit state to remember well what happened,” he said. “They have not confirmed that this happened but many have confirmed that something like that happened.”

Those who were injured were taken to one of three hospitals in the area. Of the 120 injured, 12 remain in serious condition and seven are fighting for their lives, ANSA reported.

Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini called the incident a “mix of irresponsibility and avidity.”

Two investigations have now been opened: one to determine who sprayed the pepper-like substance and another for overcapacity at the disco.</s>Due stupide bravate hanno creato il panico oggi in altrettante scuole di Pavia e del Cremonese. Due episodi che non hanno prodotto conseguenze gravi, ma che lasciano pensare ad un assurdo spirito di emulazione dopo la tragedia avvenuta nella notte tra venerdì 7 e sabato 8 dicembre in una discoteca di Corinaldo (Ancona), che ha provocato la morte di cinque giovani e una mamma.



Sulla stessa linea il ministro dell'Istruzione, Marco Bussetti, per il quale si potrebbe anche vietarne l'uso a scuola, ma «non è questione di portarlo o no, è l'uso che se ne fa. Basta tenerlo all'interno. Tante donne hanno dovuto utilizzarlo per difesa personale, ad esempio». L'Associazione nazionale funzionari polizia chiede il divieto di vendita ai minori di 18 anni, numero identificativo su ogni bomboletta che consenta un abbinamento con l'acquirente, possibilità di vendita solo in armerie o in apposti esercizi espressamente autorizzati che avranno l'onere di identificare con documento l'acquirente. Anche Cosimo Maria Ferri (Pd) sollecita la regolamentazione della vendita e dell'uso dello spray, «disciplinandone l'accesso in luoghi pubblici e manifestazioni». Per il segretario nazionale di Sinistra italiana Nicola Fratoianni «è giunto il momento di dire che la diffusione delle armi e degli strumenti di offesa come gli spray non garantisce la sicurezza, al contrario provoca disastri. È giunto il momento di vietarne la vendita libera».

Ultimo aggiornamento: 11 Dicembre, 08:22

© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA</s>A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of causing the stampede at a nightclub in the town of Corinaldo, near Ancona in central Italy, this weekend in which six people were killed.

Media reports said the suspected use of a pepper spray-like substance sparked panic during the concert.

"The cause may have been the dispersal of a stinging substance, the young people fled and trampled over each other. Sadly, six people died and dozens are injured," the fire service said in a statement on Twitter.

As the crowd panicked, people ran for the three emergency exits, one of which led to a small bridge and the car park, according to a preliminary investigation.

The force of the fleeing crowd made a railing collapse and dozens of people fell, crushing those below to death.

The 15-year-old is suspected of involuntary manslaughter and causing bodily harm, youth crime court prosecutor Giovanna Leboroni said at a press conference in Ancona.

Ancona Chief Prosecutor Monica Garulli said seven others are also under investigation: four owners of the venue and three businesspeople who ran it.

Investigators are also looking into whether the club sold more tickets to the event than the venue could hold.

Three witnesses said that the suspect, who has not been named by police, had released pepper spray. Another witness reportedly claimed that the spray was used to disable a person and steal their gold chain.

Police have not ruled out that the fumes came from another source, noting that a large number of clubbers suffered ill effects. However, a can of pepper spray was found in the club.

Gangs have used pepper spray to steal from people at public events in Italy about 20 times in the past two years.

In June last year one person was killed and 1,526 injured when a gang using pepper spray caused panic among crowds watching a football match on a large screen in Turin.

And yesterday, teenagers hospitalised classmates by using pepper spray in schools in two separate, apparently 'copycat' incidents.

33 students from a school in Pavia were taken to hospital yesterday, local media reports, after pepper spray or a similar substance was used, and another five were hospitalised in Cremona when a 14-year-old girl sprayed classmates in the gym’s changing room.

READ ALSO: Two dead, several injured in petrol station explosion near Rome</s>ROME — Italian police investigating a deadly disco stampede said Sunday they found a pepper spray can and were questioning dozens of witnesses Sunday following accounts by concertgoers that a teenage boy had sprayed an irritating substance, triggering the mad rush by the crowd to flee.

It wasn’t known if the can found was the one whose spray apparently set off the stampede about 1 a.m. Saturday in a crowd awaiting a rapper’s performance in the Lanterna Azzurra disco in Corinaldo, a small town in east-central Italy, police said.

A police official also declined to confirm Italian media reports that a 16-year-old boy had been identified as the sprayer and would be questioned by juvenile court officials.

Five teens and a woman who had accompanied her 11-year-old daughter to the concert died in the crush of fleeing concertgoers who toppled over a railing atop a cement ramp outside an exit.

Seven of the more than 50 people injured in the stampede remained in critical condition Sunday, doctors said.

On Saturday, prosecutors and Italy’s premier and interior minister told reporters that nearly 1,400 tickets had been sold, while the disco could safely hold only 870 people.</s>Italian police investigating a deadly disco stampede said they found a pepper spray can and were questioning dozens of witnesses yesterday following accounts by concertgoers that a teenage boy had sprayed an irritating substance, triggering the mad rush by the crowd to flee.

Italian police investigating a deadly disco stampede said they found a pepper spray can and were questioning dozens of witnesses yesterday following accounts by concertgoers that a teenage boy had sprayed an irritating substance, triggering the mad rush by the crowd to flee.

It wasn't known if the can found was the one whose spray apparently set off the stampede at about 1am Saturday in a crowd awaiting a rapper's performance in the Lanterna Azzurra (Blue Lantern) disco in Corinaldo, a small town in the Marche region of east-central Italy, the Carabiniere paramilitary police commander of Ancona province, Colonel Cristian Carrozza, told reporters.

He also declined to confirm Italian media reports that a 16-year-old boy had been identified as the sprayer and would be questioned by juvenile court officials.

Five teens, all juveniles, and a woman who had accompanied her 11-year-old daughter to the concert, died in the crush of fleeing concertgoers who toppled over a railing atop a cement ramp outside an exit. The railing gave way, sending young people tumbling over it and landing atop of each other in the area below the ramp, about 1.5 meters below.

On Saturday, prosecutors and Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters that nearly 1,400 tickets had been sold, while the disco could safely hold only 870 people, with the capacity of the room of the concert itself set at about 460.

Yesterday, Col Carrozza said a count of ticket stubs indicated about 600 tickets were used for entry. It was unclear if others might have gotten in without having tickets checked by disco personnel.

One of the DJs, Marco Cecchini, told reporters he was sure that more than just one room of the disco was open, in addition to the one with the 460-person capacity.

"I've done 40-50 evenings in that place, and, sincerely, there weren't so many people. I'd estimate maybe 800-900 people, but all the rooms were open," the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Mr Cecchini, who is the son of one of the disco's managers, as saying.

Seven of the more than 50 people injured in the stampede remained in critical condition yesterday while the remaining patients were either already discharged or about to be discharged after their condition improved.
Thirty-three people are hospitalized in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy, after pepper spray was fired inside the gym of a school. This is the second pepper spray-related incident in the country in three days. On 8 December, six people died when someone fired the spray inside a nightclub, causing a stampede.