Senate Crush Disaster

The Senate Crush Disaster was a crowd crush that occurred in the Saegon senate building on the capital of Tror. 
During a regular summit, senators from across the empire met to discuss various problems facing both their respective worlds and the nation at large. At the end of the meeting, a crowd began to form from the sheer amount of people attending. Exits began to be blocked and panic spread, causing even more people to force their way into the halls. By the time security and rescue forces resolved the situation forty eight senators and two aides had died, resulting in the single greatest loss of life in the Senate's history.
== Prelude ==
Per the Constitution of Tror, the capital and its moon had 25 senators (15 and 10 respectively). For the other systems, it went from 1 per moderately populated planet to 2 for a densely populated planet. This worked for about 170 years, by then the Senate having reached almost 100,000 senators representing roughly 36,000 systems. 
The senate body, and even its electorates, realized the ever-growing empire's method of representation was unsustainable and would eventually lead to crippling problems. The Senate convened to reform and establish a new system on nine separate occasions, each one having fizzled out with the Senate unable to reach a consensus.
== Disaster ==
After what was a regular session, the members of the Senate and their various aides left their seats and headed out. The main senate chamber, a gigantic auditorium able to fit over one-hundred-thousand individuals, was largely circular and had a revolving hallway between the main arena and the rest of the building. Although the chambers were made up of several floors of seats, all of the levels emptied into the single common hallway.
Those leaving poured into the hall as per usual, with some deciding to chat before going and others debating and dealing with other politicians. While seemingly normal at first, the lower levels began to swell as the stairs, only wide enough for a single line of people, ground to a halt as there was no room in the hall to exit into. The upper levels froze as well, the same issue plaguing their stairways. The exits out to the rest of the building were blocked on both sides and few individuals would leave the halls before the event.
As the halls began to fill, with virtually no one leaving, it got significantly harder to move around. Senators and staff continued to flood into the corridor to the point they physically could not leave the main auditorium. The lower chambers were stuck where they stood and the upper chambers were slowly pushed against their balcony railings. The middle sections, acting as the main Senate floor, were largely unaffected and would remain mostly unaware of the troubles to come until rescue crews began to act.
Once the halls were filled to the brim, it became incredibly difficult to move around. People waiting in the stairwells tried to push through, worsening the congestion and preventing anyone from backing out. By this point people began to panic and attempt to leave, but with so many trying at the same time, it began a domino effect of each exit becoming blocked one by one.
== Rescue ==
Staff from the corridors outside the crowd quickly realized the situation and activated the security alarms. As guards began to arrive it was obvious the problem required emergency responders with rescue equipment. Fire and medical services were summoned; police completely locked down the senate building while evacuating all non-emergency personnel. Local air forces locked down the airspace in a 1-mile radius while the TSFD (Tror Surface Defense Force) began to block nearby roads and pathways leading to the site.
Security attempted to remove people manually but found the pressure too great. In one exit guards attempted to shoot the doorways wider above head-level and remove the lower sections by hand, but found it too difficult and dangerous to the victims. Other tools used were prybars, crowbars, hammers, and blunt objects like bricks and the butts of rifles to pick at the doorways. These methods proved futile.
Firefighters responded from every department in the city, supplemented by their army and air force counterparts. The first on-scene discovered the gravity of the crisis and ordered heavy extrication equipment to be brought up immediately. With so many pushed against the exits, tools like spreaders and cutters were initially deemed too risky for those trapped. Although it was never proven, the story goes a trapped member yelled "I think I'm standing on a body!", leading those in charge to ignore their concerns and proceed with the rescue. Regardless, firefighters began to cut pieces of the doorways out while axes chipped at the remainder to get as much open space as possible. Holes were punctured in other areas along the walls to pump fresh oxygen into the crowded hall, as the air started to become thin with so many breathing in a small space.
While the regular rescue forces acted as best they could, army firefighters used their military training to devise a plan: Burn large holes in the walls between them and the victims. While police and security forces had explosives capable of achieving this, killing some to save the rest was not an option. Instead, they brought in demolition specialists carrying non-explosive thermite. The thermite would cut square sections out, allowing them to be removed and creating large "doorways" in the process. This proved to be the key to saving those trapped. The flood of victims able to escape through this single exit overwhelmed rescuers, leading the demo teams to cut three more holes. In short order the situation became tenable and even those stuck in the main chamber were able to quickly vacate.
It took about forty-eight minutes from the first dispatch to the last victim freed, leaving behind the fifty bodies of those who succumbed to their peril.
== Cause ==
It was never clear what exactly caused the congestion. It's generally agreed a mixture of elements acting in unison led to a perfect, deadly, moment. The membership attending in person was higher than average, and along with them came multiple aides each. A culmination of everyone leaving at the exact moment at the exact time led to disaster, and the building's design being obsolete for the size of the legislature certainly did not help.
== Reconstruction ==
The main structure was completely rebuilt from the inside out. Each level was now designed with its own hall, ones wider and more furnished than the original. Additional exits, both to and out of the halls were placed. These exits were now double doors wide enough for three persons to walk through, the old ones being single-doored for a single "departer". Filtered ventilation systems were installed in the main chamber and each hall, with fire exits leading to safe rooms further underground should these become insufficient.
The levels of seats were rearranged, and the main design of the chamber was moderately changed to adapt to the new layout of halls and exits. The desks of senators were replaced with wider variants, now long enough for the Senator and two aides. This led the number of senatorial seats to shrink while the number of actual seats remained relatively the same.
New additions like guard posts and extra seating for special guests had been planned before the incident and were implemented along with the remodel.
== Aftermath ==
All planned Senate events were postponed indefinitely and the Tror City government entered a state of emergency. The catastrophe was broadcasted across the empire and other foreign powers, with the senate building being completely locked down for the first time in decades. Units of the Senatorial Guard were sent to gather the close family members of those who passed and bring them to a staging area set up by themselves and military police. Upon hearing the news, the widow of deceased Senator Deacon Saunders suffered a fatal heart attack, becoming one of only two women to die, and the only person to perish outside of the actual disaster.
High Senators Pollik & Dal declared the Senate shut-down for a minimum of a week, which was later extended to nine days in total. The government itself continued to function and individual senators acted over their territories as normal, but gatherings and dealings as a senatorial body ceased.
On the evening of the ninth day, after a week of mourning and dealing with the fallen's families, the high senators convened the assembly. The Senate met (virtually) on the morning of the tenth day and opened the Constitution for amendment.
The Senate, led by constant supervision and adjustment by the high senators, eventually would rewrite the order for how senators and their territories functioned. Instead of single planets, senators would now represent multiple worlds and possibly systems depending on the local populations. Special clauses were made to prevent certain senators from becoming more powerful or weaker than others due to resources or electorates.
The size of the Senate would be drastically reduced, and sectors of space that once hosted dozens of senators found themselves with sometimes a third of their former numbers. 
The representative system was also rewritten, being more heavily focused on population than before.
The reduction meant many in the Senate would lose their positions, making this the bill's biggest opposition. Elections would be held between competing senators where possible, while others were assigned representation if it would be too confusing for governmental mappings and districts. To avoid the bill failing to a coalition of "fired" Senators, it was pushed through before final decisions were made on who would represent what. 
The result was a far more stable government, with high-up elected officials being able to more directly manage their worlds and electorates. The Republic as a whole became more efficient and the move was praised as one of the greatest changes in the nations history.