Overcrowding at the entrance tunnel to a former freight rail station where the event was being held sparked the stampede and then a crush among the mainly young festival-goers, police said.

The festival, which police said drew about 1.4 million people coming from all around Europe, was not immediately canceled because authorities feared an abrupt halt could spark a second panic.

Music blared out after the stampede and people danced on, unaware of the unfolding tragedy nearby. Organizers finally called the event off in late evening hours after the deaths.

Authorities put the death toll at 19 on July 25, with at least 342 injured, many severely.

Police in the industrial Ruhr city of Duisburg in western Germany had tried to close the tunnel entrance about a half an hour before the chaos broke out in late afternoon.

The annual event with a backdrop of electronic dance music such as House, Trance and Techno, flamboyant outfits and energetic dance moves, was first held in Berlin in 1989 as an event to promote peace through music.

Internationally, similar Love Parades have taken place in Zurich, San Francisco, Mexico City, Acapulco, Vienna, Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Sydney, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Oslo and Budapest.