What happened to Rebecca Ikumelo? Woman dies in concert crowd crush incident 

33-year-old Rebecca Ikumelo died after getting injured following the crowd crush outside London’s Brixton Academy. The incident took place on Thursday, December 15, 2022 when the crowd got out of control at Nigerian singer Asake's concert, leading to a crowd crush.

As many as eight people reportedly sustained injuries and had to be admitted to the hospital immediately. Rebecca Ikumelo, a mother of two, was one of the victims who was injured and was in a critical state.

Ikumelo reportedly died on Saturday morning after succumbing to her injuries. As of December 17, 2022, two other women apart from Rebecca continue to remain in a critical state.

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Rebecca Ikumelo from Newham was a single mother to sons Jamael and Joelle

Nigerian artist Asake's concert at the Brixton Academy turned into a violent crowd crush on Thursday. It has been reported that about 3,000 people tried to enter the venue without tickets, and ended up causing chaos. Soon after the huge crowd tried to enter the venue, the authorities decided to lock it down. This resulted in the concert coming to a halt.

The horrific crowd crush took place at about 9.30 pm local time at the venue on Stockwell Road. As mentioned above, eight people were rushed to the hospital, and four were critically injured. One of the four people is reportedly in a stable state.

Unfortunately, Rebecca Ikumelo was one of the eight victims who succumbed to her injuries on Saturday. She was a 33-year-old woman from Newham, East London, and was also a mother of two. Apart from Ikumelo, two women aged 21 and 23 are still reported to be critical.

Rebecca’s friends have described her as:

“A beautiful woman who radiated positive energy and was dedicated to being the best version of herself for her kids.”

Rebecca Ikumelo was a single mother to sons Jamael and Joelle. She worked as a nursing associate. She took a break from her job when her older son was diagnosed with autism back in 2020. She had over 13,000 followers on TikTok and often spread awareness about autism online.

Not just Rebecca Ikumelo, but so many people have faced the distress and trauma that the crowd crush brought with it at Brixton Academy. A woman who reportedly passed out in the crowd stated:

“I was trying to get up, but people were stepping on my head, all over me. I had more than 10 people on top of me. A man pulled me out, so when I woke up, I was in the back of the ambulance.”

Horrific videos have also surfaced on the internet. A clip captured a woman being thrown down a flight of stairs. Authorities and law enforcement officials are investigating the incident.

One of the members of Asake’s team said:

“3,000 people have broken the door outside and, because of security, police have asked us to close the show.”

On the sad demise of the single mother, Asake stated:

“I am devastated by the news that Rebecca Ikumelo who was in a critical condition since Thursday, has sadly passed away… I am overwhelmed with grief and could never have imagined anything like this happening.”

Rebeccas’s family released a statement and mentioned:

“She was well respected in the family for her care, kindness, and love. Her parents call her Tosin (short for Oluwatosin), meaning Lord is Worthy.”

Temiope Olodo, a family member of Rebecca Ikumelo's, posted a tweet that read:

“My favorite Niece, Rebecca Ikumelo, died today as a result of injuries sustained from @asakemusik Concert.”

Not just family members, but many netizens expressed condolences after the demise of Rebecca Ikumelo on several social media platforms. Author Toni Tone paid tribute to Rebecca and said:

“She was a beautiful woman who radiated positive energy and was dedicated to being the best version of herself for her kids. She also did so much to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder.”

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A post-mortem of the 33-year-old mother is to be held on Sunday

London Mayor Sadiq Khan took to Twitter and said:

“It was vital that the investigation into what happened concludes as soon as possible and City Hall is working with authorities to ensure nothing like this happens again.”

Officials are requesting people to provide any information that they might possess. They stated:

“There were around 4,000 potential witnesses present at the time of this incident and we want to urge any member of the public with information to come forward. We need your information as we try to establish what happened as quickly as we can.”

The concert at the O2 Academy was the final performance by the artist and was one of his three sold-out shows. Before the performance, Asake took to Twitter and urged people not to try to enter the venue without proper tickets.

While offering condolences for the demise of Rebecca Ikumelo, Asake also requested witnesses to contact the Metropolitan Police in case they could provide more information.