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Heysel Plateau

City of BrusselsNeighbourhoods of BrusselsParks in BrusselsUse British English from June 2022World's fair sites in Belgium
Atomium
Atomium

The Heysel Plateau (French: Plateau du Heysel, Dutch: Heizelplateau) or Heysel Park (French: Parc du Heysel, Dutch: Heizelpark), usually shortened to Heysel (French: [ɛzɛl]) or Heizel (Dutch: [ˈɦɛizəl] (listen)), is a neighbourhood, park and exhibition space in Laeken, northern Brussels, Belgium, where the Brussels International Exposition of 1935 and the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo 58) took place. The Atomium, a symbolic 103-metre-tall (338 ft) modernist structure, originally built for Expo 58, is the most impressive monument on the Heysel Plateau and is now considered a landmark of Brussels. Opposite it, the Centenary Palace is one of the lasting remaining buildings of the 1935 World's Fair. It was also the venue for the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest in 1987. Currently, it is home to the Brussels Exhibition Centre (Brussels Expo), the city's most important event complex in Belgium and the largest exhibition space in the Benelux.The Heysel Plateau was also the location of the Heysel Stadium, Belgium's former national stadium, originally built in 1930. After the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985, which claimed the lives of 39 spectators at the European Cup final, it was demolished and in its place was built the more modern and secure King Baudouin Stadium. The Bruparck entertainment park (with among others Mini-Europe miniature park and Kinepolis cinema) and the Planetarium of the Royal Observatory of Belgium are also located there, as is the Palais 12/Paleis 12, a large and modern multiuse indoor arena with a maximum capacity of 15,000 people. This site is served by Heysel/Heizel metro station on line 6 of the Brussels Metro.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Heysel Plateau (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Heysel Plateau
Place de Belgique - Belgiëplein, Brussels

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Latitude Longitude
N 50.9 ° E 4.3369444444444 °
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Palais 5 - Paleis 5

Place de Belgique - Belgiëplein
1020 Brussels
Belgium
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Heysel Stadium disaster

The Heysel Stadium disaster (Italian: Strage dell'Heysel [ˈstraʤe ˈdel ˈhaɪzl̩]; German: Katastrophe von Heysel [ˈhaɪzl̩]; French: Drame du Heysel [ɛzɛl]; Dutch: Heizeldrama [ˈɦɛizəlˌdraːmaː]) was a crowd disaster that occurred on 29 May 1985 when mostly Juventus fans escaping from a breach by Liverpool fans were pressed against a collapsing wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final between the Italian and English clubs. 39 people—mostly Italians and Juventus fans—were killed and 600 were injured in the confrontation.Approximately an hour before the Juventus–Liverpool final was due to kick off, Liverpool supporters charged at Juventus supporters and breached a fence that was separating them from a "neutral area". The cause of the rampage has been attributed by eyewitnesses to Liverpool fans who had been drinking heavily. Juventus fans ran back on the terraces and away from the threat into a concrete wall. Fans already standing near the wall were crushed; eventually the wall collapsed, allowing others to escape. Many people climbed over to safety, but many others died or were badly injured. The game was played despite the pre-match incidents by authorities and organizers' joint decision for public policy doctrine reasons after being declared a state of siege in the city, with Juventus winning 1–0.The tragedy resulted in all English football clubs being placed under an indefinite ban by Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) from all European competitions (lifted in 1990–91), with Liverpool being excluded for an additional two years, later reduced to one, and fourteen Liverpool fans found guilty of manslaughter and each sentenced to six years' imprisonment. The disaster was later described as "the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions".