Zurich Techno Street Parade Draws 800,000

Organizers said that some 800,000 people joined in Zurich's techno Street Parade on Saturday even as city police mobilised to monitor the crowd after the deadly techno event in Germany last month. Fans started marching early afternoon (1200 GMT) to the beat of booming electronic music, following some 30 floats through the streets of Switzerland's economic capital.

City police told AFP by early evening that the event was generally calm even though there were "many cases of people drunk or under the influence of drugs."

Two people suffered head injuries and had to be hospitalised, police said.

Authorities were concerned about the techno event after panic broke out in the tunnel entrance to the Love Parade in Duisbourg, Germany, on July 24 causing a stampede that left 21 people dead and more than 500 injured.

The marchers in Zurich's parade, some dressed as Superman and Hello Kitty or in goth style, gathered on the banks of Zurich's lake and observed a minute of silence to remember the victims of the German techno party.

Around the lake there were seven stages where DJs presented concerts and the crowds danced to the music.

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The Street Parade is considered the world's biggest techno-party, which has taken place each year in Zurich since 1992.

Source-AFP