Apologies for the 96

Twenty three years after the Hillsborough disaster, Liverpool fans have finally been cleared of any responsibility of the disaster. On 15 April 1989, during a FA Cup final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs, a human crush occurred which killed 94 fans on the day and injuring 766 others. The death total reached 96 when two other victims later died in hospital.

An independent report occurred into documents about the disaster, and on 12 September 2012, it was said that it was the police at fault for not doing enough to prevent the tragedy and not the fans to blame. David Cameron, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, spoke about the tragedy where he said that the families "have suffered a double injustice" with the fact that the state failed "to protect their loved ones and the indefensible wait to get to the truth" and how it was suggested that the deceased were "somehow at fault for their own deaths". He also issued an apology to the families of the victims of the disaster on behalf of the police force and the emergency services.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel compiled the report, and on that panel was Dr Bill Kirkup who said that if the emergency service had responded quicker, then up to a possible 41 people out of the deceased 96 could have been saved. As said by the BBC, "By analysing post-mortem test results, the panel found 28 of the 96 victims had no 'obstruction of the blood circulation' and there was 'separate evidence that, in 31, the heart and lungs had continued to function after the crush'." Kelvin MacKenzie was the editor of the Sun at the time when it ran the headline 'The Truth' that pitched the blame onto the Liverpool fans and how they behaved atrociously when the police tried to save people. He has now issued an apology for publishing the article in "good faith" when it was "so wrong". Trevor Hicks, a campaigner and a father who lost two daughters in the disaster, however rejected the apology, saying "too little, too late". While it is true that the apology on behalf of the police force and the emergency services was long overdue, David Cameron gave the families something that they had been waiting to hear for all these years.

Margaret Aspinall who is the chairwoman of the Hillsborough Families Support Group had this to say, something that is true in every word: "It doesn't make us feel better because we will always be the losers at Hillsborough."

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