The UK apologizes to families of 97 Liverpool soccer fans killed in a stadium crush 34 years ago

By PAN PYLAS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The British government has apologized to the families of 97 Liverpool soccer fans killed in a stadium crush 34 years ago. The apology came Wednesday as the government introduced a charter it says will sharply diminish the chances that others will endure the kinds of injustices those victims suffered. However, it refused to back calls from campaigners to legally require public bodies, including police, to tell the truth and proactively cooperate with official investigations and inquiries into public disasters. The Hillsborough disaster happened on April 15, 1989. More than 2,000 Liverpool fans were allowed to flood into a standing-room section behind a goal at nearly full Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. The victims were smashed against metal anti-riot fences or trampled underfoot.