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Six people have been killed and about 59 others injured in a stampede of panicked concertgoers at a disco in a small town on Italy's Adriatic coast, authorities said.

The dead included three girls and two boys and an adult woman, a mother who had accompanied her daughter to the disco in Corinaldo, where an Italian rapper was entertaining the crowd, Ancona police chief Oreste Capocasa said at the scene.

Officials believe the stampede happened after someone let off a substance similar to pepper spray.

Thirteen of the 59 injured were in serious condition, Mr Capocasa said.

The provincial capital of Ancona is the nearest big town.

Video taken outside the venue in the town of Corinaldo, near Ancona, showed scores of teenagers rushing out of a door and surging towards a low railing or wall near the exit.

The barrier appeared to give way and a cascade of teenagers tumbled over it, falling on top of each other.

The "giving way of two parapets due to the crush of the young people getting out" probably caused the tragedy, interior minister Matteo Salvini told RAI.

The bodies of the victims were found near a low wall close to an exit, firefighters' spokesman Dino Poggiali earlier told Sky TG24 News. News reports said the wall was about 3ft to 5ft high.

Overcrowding was also suspected.

Ancona chief prosecutor Monica Garulli told reporters at the scene: "The number of tickets sold is about 1,400, compared to a capacity of about 870."

Mr Salvini said it was "probably true that there were ... more people inside than was permissible".

State radio said about 1,000 people were in the disco when the stampede erupted.

Mr Carrozza said the dead teenagers - three girls and two boys - were aged 14 to 16 and the woman was 39. Of the 59 who were injured, 13 were in serious condition, he said.

The radio report said most of the fatalities suffered crushed skulls.

Italian media said the woman who was killed had gone with her daughter to the Lanterna Azzurra disco.

Ansa had earlier reported that someone had sprayed an irritant, which triggered the panic. Mr Salvini said there possibly was a "stink" of something that could have been ammonia or another substance.

Firefighters had concentrated on giving first aid to survivors, stretched out on the road outside the club, before starting their investigation.

Mr Salvini vowed that responsibility would be determined for the "six broken lives - whoever out of nastiness, stupidity or greed transformed an evening of partying into tragedy".

President Sergio Mattarella demanded "full light be shone on what happened, ascertaining any responsibility and negligence".

"Citizens have the right to safety wherever they are, in workplaces as well as places of entertainment," Mr Mattarella said in a statement. "Safety must be assured with special commitment in places where crowds gather, through rigorous inspection and checks. One cannot die this way."

Italian fire officials and ANSA news agency said the audience at Italian rapper Sfera Ebbasta's concert at the Lanterna Azzurra nightclub panicked and ran for the exits after someone sprayed the substance.

A teenager told ANSA he discovered that at least one of the emergency exits was locked when he tried to flee.

The report said authorities were investigating if the emergency exits were working.