Latest news with #AtlanticBeachBlackPearlCulturalHeritageandBikeFestival
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Update: 12 hospitalized after fights cause panic at Atlantic Beach Bike Week
Twelve people were sent to the hospital after fights created a mass panic at concerts in Atlantic Beach Bike Week, authorities said. Any reports of mass casualties are false, wrote Atlantic Beach Police Interim Chief Carlos Castillo in a release. During concerts late Saturday night, fights erupted in the town of Atlantic Beach — which hosts the motorcycle rally — and caused the crowd to panic. People were injured as they were trampled trying to leave the festival, Castillo wrote. At 11:57 p.m. Horry County Fire Rescue dispatched to Atlantic Beach due to a disturbance with injuries, according to a social media post. EMS brought 12 people to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and an additional six signed a medical transport waiver. Law enforcement officials saw the fights but believed agitators ran and disappeared into the crowd, Castillo said in an email to The Sun News. No one has been arrested. The music paused but the festival continued until it closed at 3 a.m. Celebrations in Atlantic Beach will continue until 3 p.m. Monday, police said. 'We sincerely regret that anyone was injured, but we also regret the unfactual information that is being falsely spread about the Atlantic Beach Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival,' Castillo wrote. In the aftermath, on a rainy Sunday morning, the ground and area near the concert stage was littered with trash, shoes and sunglasses. Hilton Dewitt, who was at the event, told the Sun News there may have been an argument on the street near Ocean Boulevard, which caused concert goers to rush toward the stage. Dewitt said it happened about 1 a.m. 'They started panicking,' Dewitt said of the crowd. 'It was a stampede.' Atlantic Beach Bike Week, also known as Black Bike Week, happens annually during Memorial Day weekend, among other festivals and concerts that take place in the town of Atlantic Beach. Bikers also spread out in the area, spending time at the Myrtle Beach Mall parking lot and in downtown Myrtle Beach. This is a developing story. Check back at The Sun News for updates.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Several injured in series of fights during Atlantic Beach bike week festivities, police chief says
ATLANTIC BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Several people were hurt after a series of fights broke out early Sunday morning at the Memorial Day Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival in Atlantic Beach, the town's police chief told News13. 'There were a couple of fights that broke out, causing panic in the crowd and several people were injured trying to leave the area,' Chief Carlos Castillo Jr. said. 'Adequate police and medical staff were on hand to aid as needed and transport individuals to the hospital.' Castillo said authorities couldn't immediately say how many people were hospitalized. A location was also not provided. Castillo said music was paused as officers responded, but the event continued through 3 a.m. 'We sincerely regret that anyone was injured, but we also regret the infactual information that is being falsely spread about the Atlantic Beach Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival,' Castillo said. Founded in 1980 by the Flaming Knight Riders, Atlantic Beach's bike week draws up to 400,000 people. 'Alone, it would be considered the third largest motorcycle rally in the entire country after Sturgis and Daytona. But when combined with Myrtle Beach's Harley Week, it has arguably more people than any other city,' Atlantic Beach says of the event on its website. This is a developing story. Count on News13 for updates on air and online. * * * Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here. * * * Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and read more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
