LONDON

The families of 96 football fans killed in an English stadium crush 27 years ago on Wednesday led calls for senior police officers in charge of the match to be prosecuted, local media reported.

They spoke out after an inquest into the deaths found the Liverpool supporters were unlawfully killed, overturning an earlier accidental death verdict. A jury also pointed to failures on the part of the local police.

Two ongoing investigations are looking at events leading up to the crush and allegations of a cover-up after the tragedy and are expected to be finished by the end of the year.

Anne Burkett, whose 24-year-old son Peter was killed in the April 1989 disaster at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, northern England, said police had previously blamed the fans for the “human tragedy”.

She told the BBC: “It is also a story of deceit and lies, of institutional defensiveness defeating truth and justice. It is evidence of a culture of denial within South Yorkshire Police.”

In the aftermath of the deaths, the focus was on the behavior of Liverpool fans, with some police officers telling the media that the fans’ actions had led to the disaster.

“It raises a whole new set of questions and people will still need to carry on fighting,” survivor Val Yates told the BBC. “There’s been truth, there’s been justice and now there has to be accountability.

“We were all cleared, we were exonerated. We were not murderers, we did not kill our own. Their incompetence, negligence, mismanagement - they did it.”

Barry Devonside, whose 18-year-old son Christopher died, called for criminal charges to be brought against high-ranking police officers.

Following Tuesday’s inquest verdict, David Compton, the chief constable of South Yorkshire police, said he “unequivocally” accepted the verdict and apologized “unreservedly” to the families.

The officer in charge of policing the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, David Duckenfield, retired two years after the event.

The inquest found he was responsible for “manslaughter by gross negligence” by giving the order to open a gate to allow fans access to an already overcrowded part of the stadium. He could be the first officer from the period to face charges.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it would consider criminal charges. These could include perverting the course of justice, perjury and misconduct in public office.