Fairgoers flee from 'madness' after panic at the Kentucky State Fair

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A man and his daughter watched helplessly as hundreds of people rushed toward the exits of the Kentucky State Fair on Saturday.

The chaotic scene stemmed from "noise-making devices," according to Kentucky State Police, leading to nine people being arrested. Phillip Profumo and his 11-year-old daughter believed the noises to be gunshots as they were waiting to get on a ride.

"We seen everybody running and there was an exit that was actually right by the ride, and they were rushing out of that, pushing people down. We seen an old lady get pushed to the ground," Profumo said. "There was swings, the ride swings there, and people jumped off of that while it was still in motion and just jumped to the ground and all the fence barriers that were blocking the rides, they'd knocked them down so they could get out faster."

KSP said there were no reported injuries following the incident that happened in front of The Midway around 9:20 p.m.

Profumo's daughter asked him, "What do we do? Do we go down there? Do we leave?" He called the scene below them "madness."

Steven Brown, his wife and 10-year-old daughter had been at the fair for several hours when things started to change.

"All the power went out on our side of the park, so that freaked [my wife] out instantly, she started getting a little worried that something was going on," Brown said. "I was a little worried at that time too, because all the rides stopped, people stuck in the air and everything for about a minute."

A few minutes later after the electrical power came back on, Brown said he heard screaming and a "wall full of people" running in his family's direction.

"I grabbed my daughter's hand, I looked back grabbed my wife's hand and we just took off running as fast as we could," Brown said. "We took off and people were breaking the barriers for the rides."

Brown and his family were fully immersed in the chaos in the matter of moments.

"I remember a lady was screaming, 'don't come trample over my baby,'" Brown said. "I look down and see her husband grab the baby and pick up the baby and take off."

Brown said he didn't hear the noise that caused people to run.

Profumo is hesitant to return to the fair.

"It's going to be hard to go back to the fair again," Profumo said. "It really will be, because I can't have them exposed to that kind of stuff."

This year, the fair set nighttime curfews at 6 p.m., with anyone under 18 being required to be accompanied with a parent or guardian 21 years or old.

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