A jury in Britain Tuesday ruled that 96 soccer fans who perished in Britain's worst sports disaster were "unlawfully killed" and blamed their deaths on police actions and poor stadium design.
The ruling was the result of new inquests into the disaster at the 1989 FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, after the original verdict of accidental death was overturned in 2012.
Ninety-six people, most of them aged 30 or younger, died in the crush and hundreds others were injured at the match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England.
The jury ruled Tuesday that when a standing-only section of the stadium grew dangerously overcrowded, police actions and faulty turnstiles were among the factors that led to the deadly crush.
The verdict was a stark contrast to the conclusion of the original inquiry in 1990, which said police were not at fault for the fatalities.
