( CNN ) -- Britain 's Independent Police Complaints Commission has initiated a criminal investigation into police misconduct in a 1989 tragedy at a soccer ground where 96 people died . The investigation follows a private inquiry that found serious failings by police and emergency services . The private report , released last month , reviewed thousands of documents and cast doubt on the original inquest 's finding of accidental death . English FA offer apology on Hillsborough . The crush at Sheffield 's Hillsborough Stadium on April 15 , 1989 , has cast a lasting shadow over Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside area . The panel that compiled the private report also found evidence that indicated as many as 41 of those crushed could have survived . The Independent Police Complaints Commission , which oversees police complaints in England and Wales , said Friday that last month 's report `` revealed extremely serious and troubling issues for the police . '' `` Its contents provoked a demand for those responsible for the actions revealed in the report to be held to account , '' it said . The commission is reviewing hundreds of thousands of pages of evidence , and is paying special attention to allegations that police tampered with statements and that misleading information was passed to the media , among others . `` We have learned details of the run-up to the disaster including the unheeded warnings from previous incidents , the disaster itself , and its aftermath , including what appear to be attempts to distort the truth , '' the commission said . It said it does not know how many officers and retired officers will be investigated . The commission can investigate both criminal and misconduct offenses , even after an officer 's retirement . The tragedy occurred when thousands of fans were let through a gate into an already crowded standing area , leading many to be crushed against metal fences and concrete walls . Horrifying images from the scene showed panicked men , women and children pushed and trampled with nowhere to go as police lost control of the crowd . Of some 25,000 Liverpool fans who had traveled to Sheffield to watch their team play , 96 never came home .
The Independent Police Complaints Commission started its own investigation . The crush at Sheffield 's Hillsborough Stadium in 1989 killed 96 people . A private inquiry has found evidence of police misconduct .