Stage rigging collapse kills 4 at Indiana State Fair

MBNBC ^ | August 13, 2011 | via WTHR TV

[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."

[thefactor]

Huh? It was an act of God. That like saying no one should have died during Katrina.

[genetic homophobe]

It was an act of God combined with incompetent Union stage hands rigging, local 30

[tcrlaf]

Gov. Daniels wife and daughter were behind the stage when it collapsed.

The Gov. praised Hoosiers, noting that hundreds instinctively ran TOWARDS the danger to help, instead of away. He was near tears when he said this.

It’s really too bad this man won’t be President.

[Rebelbase]

Clear video of the tragedy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkdwrmzYXg

[reaganaut]

What is the update on this? MrR and I are praying for those hurt and the families of the injured and dead.

[thefactor]

5 confirmed dead now as per drudge.

[US_MilitaryRules]

WHOA!!!! That was insane!!!

[Earthdweller]

♥ Keep this rose going for the people who died or were hurt at the Indiana State Fair ♥♥ ♥ _____/)___/)______./¯"""/') ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\)¯¯\)¯¯¯'\_„„„„\) ¯`v´¯) You are in our thoughts `*.¸.*´ and prayers!!!!

[ducttape45]

A horrible, horrible tragedy. Prays are up.

[HoosierDammit]

It’s so nice when an unspeakable tragedy fits so nicely into our political agenda, isn’t it?

Five people dead, at least one of them a “Mexican/union” crew member. Others horribly injured, and some of them may die as well - and judging from the event they were attending, it is very likely that some of them carry a union ticket.

News flash: this is Indiana in early August. There are such things as thunderstorms, and at times they’ve been known to involve dangerous straight line winds. These winds a few years back caused substantial damage to one of the skyscrapers downtown, and so the fact that they blew over a relatively light structure like a stage is not at all shocking.

This was a terrible calamity at a venue that’s already seen its share of disasters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsi_Coliseum). Let’s concentrate on praying for the victims and their families rather than on torturing the event into our narrow worldview.

[painter]

Stage crewman bump.

[KoRn]

I rather enjoy my “narrow world view”.

I believe I’ll keep it.

[Voter62vb]

Radar loop from Weather Underground: http://radblast-sf.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/radar/WUNIDS_composite_archive?centerlat=39.71722412&centerlon=-86.29416656&radius=124&newmaps=1&type=N0R&type2=TR0&num=1&SD.epoch=1313208000&ED.epoch=1313294400&DELAY=60&delay=20&width=640&height=480

[painter]

I was a local Jaycee for over 15yrs. Over 10 of those working or running the stage crew on the concert stage at the county fair.I had a hand in setting up the stage,lights,and canopy every year.

From I could see from the video there where NO support cables stretching from the outside corner towers to keep them stable.

[painter]

That canopy could have been lowered and should have been before the storm blew in.

The sound and light company who owns that stage are in DEEP sh*t!