MADRID, SPAIN (CBS) -- An apparent stampede at a public Halloween party in Madrid early on Thursday (November 1) left four women dead and one other in critical condition, emergency services in the Spanish capital said.
It was not immediately known what caused the crush, but reports suggest the panic began after a flare was thrown in the crowd.
The indoor arena, which can hold up to 10,000 people, was evacuated after the incident. "Around four am local time we received an emergency call notifying us that there were unconscious girls at the Madrid Arena. When the first unit arrived they confirmed the presence of five girls between 18 and 25 years of age suffering cardio-pulmonary arrest,'' said emergency services spokesman Fernando Prados.
"We managed to get cardiac activity in three of them and they were taken to the hospital. One of them died before arriving at the hospital and the other two arrived in very critical condition to the 12 Octubre and Concepcion Hospital," he added.
Spanish police later confirmed the death of a fourth girl. A police investigation is currently under way.
The Halloween music party featured a number of well-known DJs.
The stampede recalled a mass panic at the Love Parade music festival in Germany that killed 21 people in July 2010.