Liverpool fans mark soccer deaths 20 years on
(Adds minister quote, details)
By Phil Noble
LIVERPOOL, England, April 15 (Reuters) - More than 20,000 people packed into Liverpool's Anfield stadium on Wednesday to remember 96 soccer fans who were crushed to death 20 years ago.
All the victims during the 1989 F.A. Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, at the neutral Hillsborough ground of Sheffield Wednesday, were supporters of Liverpool, one of English soccer's most famous clubs.
The crowd sang the club's anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" and a candle was lit for each victim in a memorial service attended by members of the victims' families and past and present Liverpool players.
Some in the crowd heckled a government minister as he tried to read out a message from Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Many relatives still believe the causes of the tragedy have not been properly investigated.
"Obviously, it's an incredibly painful day for everybody here," Andy Burnham, the minister for culture, media and sport, said later. "There are many unresolved issues."
Two-minute silences were held in Liverpool, Sheffield and Nottingham at 3:06 p.m., the time the match was abandoned on April 15, 1989.
Families have been fighting for a fresh inquest to be held, unhappy at the decision by the coroner at the original 1991 inquest to limit the scope of his review. He said the victims were all dead or fatally injured by 3:15 p.m. but the families argue that cut-off meant they never discovered what happened to their relatives and prevented an official probe into the emergency services' response.
They also accuse police of a cover-up and of trying to place the blame on supporters' behaviour.
Burnham urged the police and medics, as well as the local council, to publish all material relating to the disaster to help families discover what happened to their loved ones.
The disaster and subsequent inquiry led to the removal of fencing at the front of stands and all-seater stadiums, changing the culture of grounds and creating a safer if less boisterous atmosphere at matches.
The families are angry nobody has been successfully prosecuted despite an official report in 1989 criticising police for their failure to control the situation.
"It is vital that we have transparency, for the families to know they have been able to view all the information about the deaths of their loved ones," Burnham said. (Writing by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Robert Woodward)
