Posted on 08/13/2011 7:37:18 PM PDT by Beaten Valve
Stage rigging collapsed after a storm gust Saturday night, trapping and injuring at least a dozen people at a concert at the Indiana State Fair, NBC station WTHR reported.
The outdoor stage was set up for the Sugarland concert at the state fairgrounds.
Medics and rescue crews throughout Indianapolis were converging on the State Fairgrounds after Hoosier Lottery Grandstand stage rigging fell.
Dave Lindquist, music journalist for The Indianapolis Star, reported on Twitter, "Tragedy at fair concert. Entire stage collapses on track." He also wrote that "perhaps a dozen injured people have been removed from track on stretcher-type boards."
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I’ve been listening to the scanner audio. 24 people have been transported, several more are being transported.
http://www.justin.tv/radioman911#/w/1615185120/3
Indy Star is reporting four dead.
Video from the scene shortly after the event...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QFz7K5JFP4&feature=player_embedded#at=12
Prayers for those involved
Prayers for the victims.
That looked pretty bad...
Storm front rolled thru ...
Hey! This is awful Same thin happened to Cheap Trick in Ottawa, nobody killed though.
I guess you have to be careful with temporary stage structures.
Terrible for the folks on stage, awful for the crowd, who can see it happening yet can’t do anything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfqpXNfywT4
Let the lawsuits begin!
As well they should. There is no excuse for this incident.
Half-assed stage rigging. Such things have been errected for decades now. A stage collapse nearly killed Cheap Trick and their crew at a show in Canada last month.
The stages probably made in China and erected by people that don’t speak English... /partial_sark
Was the stage set up by union laborers?
CC
Serious wind surge on the front. I was just finishing grilling a steak when it hit. Plants on the deck were tipping over and it darn near blew out the gas grill.
Morning update: 4 possibly 5 killed, 44 injured, at least 10 in critical per the Indianapolis Star.
OK, per WISH-TV 5 killed, “Other deaths expected”
For those not familiar with the venue, the stage is quite a distance from the covered grandstand. The section in between is the straightaway of the old dirt race track. Folding chairs and standing areas are sectioned off on this dirt area.
The part that collapsed was the canopy over the stage which also has lighting and a video screen. Basically steel trusses covered by tarps.
Commendable work by spectators helping in the rescue, both extraction of the wounded and medical personnel in the crowd assisting with triage and emergency aid.
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