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THE HIGH COURT in London has quashed the original, accidental inquest verdicts of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough Stadium disaster in 1989.
The Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge ordered fresh inquests following an application by the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve.
Grieve made his application in a crowded London courtroom in front of more than 40 family members who lost loved ones in the disaster, according to BBC News.
The news comes after a new police investigation was also announced today into the football disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death.
The announcement follows a damning report from an independent panel that alleged police tried to divert blame for the tragedy on to the victims.
Jenny Hicks, who lost her two daughters in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, at the High Court in London. (Sean Dempsey/PA Wire)
The inquiry is to be led by former Durham Chief Constable Jon Stoddart and will look at the events of an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield’sHillsborough Stadium 23 years ago.
The Hillsborough Independent Panel report published in September said that 41 of the 96 people who died would have had the “potential to survive” if they had received medical treatment more quickly.
It also said that 164 police statements had been changed, 116 of them to remove or alter “unfavourable” accounts about the police’s handling of the crisis.
Relatives of the dead have battled for years to have the verdicts of accidental death overturned.
Part Syndicated from AFP
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Some Munster fans are caught up in this and may miss the match later.
@Tony Stack: I was caught in it, was some joke, Queuing up since 5 for the 7:30 flight to shannon, bus went on fire right outside the door, they decided to evacuated people already gone through and rescan them again causing a backlog, told at around 8 the flight was cancelled, no organisation or anything if anything else happens we were all screwed, Toulon fans flights cancelled too, no home for me now either this Easter.
@Paul Friday Shannon: I was on a plane waiting to taxi out. After about two hours the airport made the crew kick us out as we needed to go through security before we could take off. So that put us just outside arrivals with the line going from there to the departures. Ten people wide and a few hundred meters long.
have your say