The UK apologizes to families of 97 Liverpool soccer fans killed after 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 who died after a stadium crush 34 years ago. The apology came Wednesday as it introduced a charter it said will sharply diminish the chances that others will endure the kinds of injustices they 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 in cases of public disasters. The Hillsborough disaster happened on April 15, 1989. More than 2,000 Liverpool fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield were allowed to flood into a standing-room section behind a goal with the stadium already nearly full.