crowd panic
Collective flight response
Crowd panic is the dangerous situation that develops when a large group of people, pressed together in a confined space, becomes frightened and attempts to flee simultaneously.
The panic typically causes crushing, trampling, and suffocation as people push toward exits: The fire triggered a crowd panic that killed dozens.
Also called a stampede or crowd crush, though experts note that deaths usually result from compression rather than trampling.
- stampedeFrenzied mass flight
- chaosComplete disorder and confusion
- crushCompress with force
- mass hysteriaShared irrational public fear
- hysteriaUncontrollable emotional excess
screaming · trampling · surge · frenzy · mob · fight or flight · escape · terror · fleeing · suffocation · pushing · shoving · sirens · emergency exit · exits · bottleneck · claustrophobia · mayhem
crowd, crowds, crowded, crowding, overcrowd, overcrowded, overcrowding, panic, panics