British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday said he was “profoundly sorry” for failures and cover-ups in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster in which 96 fans died after a crowd crush in the stadium.

It was wrong that the families have had to wait for so long, and fight so hard, just to get to the truth- David Cameron

He was speaking as an independent report found that police at the time had scrambled to deflect the blame for Britain’s worst sporting disaster on to Liverpool soccer fans to cover up their own flawed response.

The victims died in an overcrowded fenced-in enclosure at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, northern England, a tragedy that changed the face of English soccer and ushered in a new era of modern, all-seated stadiums.

Britain was shocked by harrowing images of young fans crushed against metal fences, bodies lying on the pitch and spectators using wooden advertising hoardings as makeshift stretchers on a warm spring afternoon.

The report, issued after a two-year investigation into the deaths, said police had sought to blame the Liverpool fans, portraying them as aggressive, drunk and ticketless and bent on packing into the already crowded stadium.

“The tragedy should never have happened,” the report’s authors said in a statement.

“There were clear operational failures in response to the disaster and in its aftermath there were strenuous attempts to deflect the blame onto the fans.”

Senior police edited their officers’ witness statements from the day to paint them in a less damaging light, the report said. Their emergency response was flawed and badly organised.

While inquiries found hooliganism played no part in the disaster, the police crowd management plan was preoccupied with preventing disorder, the report said.

Liverpool fans had been tainted by the Heysel stadium disaster in Belgium in 1985. Fighting inside that stadium led to Juventus fans being crushed against a wall that collapsed. Six Liverpool fans and 33 supporters of the Italian team died.

The real danger at Hillsborough lay in the emergency services’ poor planning and a stadium that failed to meet minimum safety standards. Its capacity was overstated and previous crushes at Hillsborough had been ignored, said the report.

Speaking in Parliament, Cameron called the disaster “one of the greatest peacetime tragedies of the last century” and acknowledged that the report would be harrowing for relatives of the deceased.

“It was wrong that the families have had to wait for so long, and fight so hard, just to get to the truth. And it was wrong that the police changed the records of what happened and tried to blame the fans.”

“On behalf of the government, and indeed our country, I am profoundly sorry for this double injustice that has been left uncorrected for so long.”

The disaster is still an open wound in Liverpool, the port city of nearly half a million people that is passionate about soccer and has fielded players such as Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard.

All the victims during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, held at the neutral ground of Sheffield yesterday, were Liverpool supporters.

The press secretary of then Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher incensed families by blaming the disaster on a “tanked-up mob”.

The report found no reason for the coroner’s decision to take blood alcohol samples from all of the victims, including children.

“The pattern of alcohol consumption among those who died was unremarkable,” the report said. “The weight placed on alcohol levels was... inappropriate and misleading.”

The disaster was also one of the low points for Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group, currently reeling from a phone hacking scandal that has led to criminal charges against former senior executives and reporters.

People in-- Liverpool still boycott Murdoch’s newspapers after the top-selling Sun accused their fans of stealing from the dying, urinating on policemen and beating up an officer giving the kiss of life. The newspaper’s executives have since apologised for the story.

The youngest victim, 10-year-old Jon-Paul Gilhooley, was the cousin of the current England and Liverpool captain Gerrard.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel, headed by the Bishop of Liverpool the Right Reverend James Jones, was set up by the last government in 2010 to oversee the release of thousands of previously unseen documents related to the incident.

Some tweets from the Liverpool Echo online

The front pages of the special edition of the Liverpool Echo out yesterday (left) and of April 20, 1989.The front pages of the special edition of the Liverpool Echo out yesterday (left) and of April 20, 1989.

“Just sat alone, read the report and cried my eyes out. I don’t know how anyone could do this to innocent people. It’s wrong on so many levels.”
by Joey Barton

“Kelvin McKenzie (then The Sun editor) should be made to go on the pitch at Anfield before a home game and apologise for the lies he allowed to be printed.”
by Paul

“We have waited 23 years for justice, We have fought for justice.”
by Emma Penniston

“An apology should be forthcoming from Margaret Thatcher,Prime Minister at the time. I haven’t bought the Sun newspaper since that tragic day, in fact it put me off the press for life.”
by ToxtethredsRus

“Sitting here with tears in my eyes, we all knew the truth. Now bring all the liars to the front to be
named and shamed.”
by everton john

“Did I hear correctly? The Prime Minister of the time Margaret Thatcher was informed of the police’s cover-up! She knew of the cover-up!”
by Phil Gura

“These were criminal activities. We have got to the truth but where is the justice? That is what is crucial now. It will be even more frustrating if nothing else happens.”
by Neil Macdonald

“It’s like the Holy Grail – everything we have been saying for 23 years is confirmed today. Not one single fan was to blame that day for what happened. The headlines that we knew were lies have been proved to be so. Very disturbing news.”
by John C.

“The only way the Scum (Sun) could make any reasonable effort is to publish a single page paper with a full apology, print the names of the 96 and nothing else.”
by Andy King

“The fight for the truth is coming to an end... the fight for justice now begins.”
by Matt in Sheffield

“At last! Hopefully those who contributed to this disaster will be brought to justice. My heart goes out to all those affected.”
by Geoffthelegs

“Feel so, so, sad for the grieving families, justice will be done at last!! Left feeling devastated for them all, especially Ann Williams. Well done to Ann for her research over all this time, can’t have been easy... respect.”
by lizzyncol

“Never cried so hard and smiled so much since my babies were born! This is the birth of truth at last! God Bless the 96!”
by Fitzyfella

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