Early on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, an escalator stampede at a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) station left 11 people injured, bringing an unanticipated mayhem to a Beyoncé event in Atlanta.

At a nearby train station, a 10-year-old girl’s cry upon spotting a cockroach or “palmetto bug” was said to be the “outrageous cause” of the fear which caused a stampede.

MARTA’s senior director of communications, Stephany Fisher, told Daily Mail on Friday that, ‘’11 individuals were hurt on an escalator at Vine City Station shortly after midnight on Tuesday, July 15, as they were leaving the Beyoncé event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta.

‘’One person suffered a broken ankle, seven people were transported to the hospital with cuts and scrapes, and one person declined transport,’ she continued. ‘Two people requested medical assistance after reaching their destinations.”

The stampede started when “a person began screaming and running, causing a stampede on the escalator that caused it to temporarily speed up and then stop suddenly,” according to information that Fisher also shared from MARTA police officers.

Witnesses recounted a scene of panic and bewilderment as people started to rush, uncertain of what had caused the scream. There was a crush of concertgoers as the escalator momentarily accelerated and then abruptly stopped due to the surge of people on it.

The spectacle was captured on camera, with numerous individuals shouting and attempting to get off the ground as they tumbled over one another.