Prime Plaza mall after clashes. Photo by Vladimir Prokopenko©
The administration of Prime Plaza mall has denied that they failed to obtain a permit for the mass event, but still held the concert when commenting the massive incident that took place on August 31 during the concert of popular Kazakh singer Kairat Nurtas near Prime Plaza. The concert was coordinated with the city authorities and approved by the latter, the mall's administration told Tengrinews.kz. Earlier the city administration and Almaty Interior Department declared that no permit had been issued for the concert and that recommendations had been made against holding the concert. According to prosecutors, the administration of the trade and entertainment center failed to obtain the official permission for the mass entertainment event before the concert , because the platform they were using was not suitable for the mass event. It was recommended to the administration to cancel the concert or transferring it to a more suitable location. Nevertheless the administration decided to go on with the concert and officially undertook to ensure and maintain security at the event at its own accord. “Foreseeing that the final event will attract a lot of audience, the administration of the mall took all the necessary measures to ensure security. On August 28 we sent the letter O/Ref No.196 to the administration of Auezov Region of Almaty city. The letter contained a request of support in ensuring order and prevention of traffic accidents during the concert. On August 29 we received a response letter No. 01-03/3III-71-364 confirming that the support would be granted. Heads of the mall's security service and the Interior Department held a joint meeting to plant out deployment and positioning of cordons. The Department made a decision to dispatch 150 officers and 3 road police crews to maintain order during the event. Besides, the mall’s security personnel was enhanced by additional 50 people,” the administration said. According to the organizers of the concert, when Kairat Nurtas suddenly stopped his performance it spurred the crowd and was the main cause of the disorders. “After singing one song the artist decided to cancel the performance and left the stage. Apparently, he got scared of his own fans. That caused an outrage among the audience and ended up in mass clashes. There were no good reasons for the artist to stop the performance, which is confirmed by the videos from the concert,” the administration said. According to the official representative of the mall Daniyar Batyrbayev the damaged is estimated at over $110 thousand. "All this is an insurance event. If the insurance company pays us we will not file any complaints and sue the organizer of the concert Aelita Khabibullina," he added. The administration of the mall said that Prime Plaza contracted the organizer of the contest Aelita Khabibullina to arrange and hold all the stages of the contest including the final concert. The final of the multi-stage karaoke contest with Kairat Nurtas' participation was held at the stage installed in the parking lot in front of the Prime Plaza. The contest started on July 19 and was held inside the mall. Winners were selected during the 2 months and were supposed to perform at the final concert. Late on August 31 around 2000 people gathered near Prime Plaza mall for a concert of a famous Kazakh pop singer Kairat Nurtas. The concert did not start on time and then the singer left the stage without even finishing the first song. The disappointed crowd started breaking through the fencing then raged at the parking lot and the ground floor of the mall shattering windows and crashing the equipment. The mob was using stones and glass bottles. The damage to the concert equipment alone is estimated at more than 150 thousand dollars. The crowd was dispersed, the police got the situation under control and fully stopped the raging by 11:00 p.m. By Roza Yessenkulova
The administration of Prime Plaza mall has denied that they failed to obtain a permit for the mass event, but still held the concert when commenting the massive incident that took place on August 31 during the concert of popular Kazakh singer Kairat Nurtas near Prime Plaza. The concert was coordinated with the city authorities and approved by the latter, the mall's administration told Tengrinews.kz. Earlier the city administration and Almaty Interior Department declared that no permit had been issued for the concert and that recommendations had been made against holding the concert.
According to prosecutors, the administration of the trade and entertainment center failed to obtain the official permission for the mass entertainment event before the concert , because the platform they were using was not suitable for the mass event. It was recommended to the administration to cancel the concert or transferring it to a more suitable location. Nevertheless the administration decided to go on with the concert and officially undertook to ensure and maintain security at the event at its own accord.
“Foreseeing that the final event will attract a lot of audience, the administration of the mall took all the necessary measures to ensure security. On August 28 we sent the letter O/Ref No.196 to the administration of Auezov Region of Almaty city. The letter contained a request of support in ensuring order and prevention of traffic accidents during the concert. On August 29 we received a response letter No. 01-03/3III-71-364 confirming that the support would be granted. Heads of the mall's security service and the Interior Department held a joint meeting to plant out deployment and positioning of cordons. The Department made a decision to dispatch 150 officers and 3 road police crews to maintain order during the event. Besides, the mall’s security personnel was enhanced by additional 50 people,” the administration said.
According to the organizers of the concert, when Kairat Nurtas suddenly stopped his performance it spurred the crowd and was the main cause of the disorders. “After singing one song the artist decided to cancel the performance and left the stage. Apparently, he got scared of his own fans. That caused an outrage among the audience and ended up in mass clashes. There were no good reasons for the artist to stop the performance, which is confirmed by the videos from the concert,” the administration said.
According to the official representative of the mall Daniyar Batyrbayev the damaged is estimated at over $110 thousand. "All this is an insurance event. If the insurance company pays us we will not file any complaints and sue the organizer of the concert Aelita Khabibullina," he added.
The administration of the mall said that Prime Plaza contracted the organizer of the contest Aelita Khabibullina to arrange and hold all the stages of the contest including the final concert.
The final of the multi-stage karaoke contest with Kairat Nurtas' participation was held at the stage installed in the parking lot in front of the Prime Plaza. The contest started on July 19 and was held inside the mall. Winners were selected during the 2 months and were supposed to perform at the final concert.
Late on August 31 around 2000 people gathered near Prime Plaza mall for a concert of a famous Kazakh pop singer Kairat Nurtas. The concert did not start on time and then the singer left the stage without even finishing the first song. The disappointed crowd started breaking through the fencing then raged at the parking lot and the ground floor of the mall shattering windows and crashing the equipment. The mob was using stones and glass bottles.
The damage to the concert equipment alone is estimated at more than 150 thousand dollars.
The crowd was dispersed, the police got the situation under control and fully stopped the raging by 11:00 p.m.
By Roza Yessenkulova