British police chief charged in 1989 deadly soccer stampede

June 28 (UPI) -- Six people, including a police commander, were criminally charged Wednesday in the 1989 deaths of 95 people killed at a Sheffield, England, soccer stadium.

The incident, in which spectators were crushed, suffocated and trampled to death as they left Hillsborough Stadium, was for years blamed on drunken and unruly fans.

A concerted campaign by survivors, and relatives of those who died, resulted in a government inquest, which found police and soccer team officials to blame.

Charged by the Crown Prosecution Service on Wednesday were David Duckenfield, commander for the South Yorkshire Police on the day of the game; Graham Henry Mackrell, former secretary of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, which operates the stadium; Peter Metcalf, a lawyer who represented the South Yorkshire Police; and Norman Bettison, Donald Denton and Alan Foster, three high-ranking police officers.

Duckenfield faces 95 counts of manslaughter. The others face lesser charges related to misconduct, violation of safety laws and lying during the inquests.

A 96th victim died four years after the incident, too late for Duckenfield to be charged under the law at the time.

A 2016 inquest into the catastrophe at the stadium, when Liverpool played Nottingham Forest, concluded that fans were unlawfully killed when police opened an exit gate to relieve congestion prior to the game. In the chaos, more than 700 people were injured.

Senior law enforcement officials and some members of the British media blamed the victims for contributing to their own deaths. Duckenfield said at the inquest that the spectators, and not police, opened the gate. The inquest identified police errors to be the cause of the deaths; it was left to prosecutors until Wednesday to decide if criminal charges would be filed.

The incident brought sweeping changes to British soccer. Traditional standing-room accommodation was replaced by seating in all major stadiums, fences surrounding the venues were removed and spectator safety was reconsidered with new rules implemented.