[Medical operations at the 2010 love parade in Duisburg]

On 24 July 2010 the love parade, a large scale open air concert was held in the city of Duisburg to which more than 500,000 guests were expected. During the course of the early evening a major tragic incident occurred in which 21 people were crushed to death and several hundred others were injured. In this article the preparation of the emergency and rescue services prior to the event is described and their operations entailing more than 1,600 staff members from all over Germany are illustrated. The article focuses on the mass casualty incident which took place in the tunnel in the early evening of that day.