Four people have been killed and 40 left injured last night when the grandstand stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the USA during a Sugarland concert.
Although the band were not on stage at the time, in a press briefing at 12:25am, Indiana State Police confirmed there had been four deaths and said the wounded were taken to Methodist and Wishard hospitals.
“I want to be very frank that there could be other deaths,” said state police Sgt. Dave Bursten during another briefing at 1:45am.
The fair has been cancelled today, but is expected to resume Monday with a public service to honour the victims.
Attendees were in the process of being evacuated when the strong wind brought down the stage rigging for the concert. The gust of the wind brought down the production equipment shortly before 9pm Saturday, a local reporter who was at the fairgrounds for the concert said “The entire stage rigging collapsed, this is bad, this is very bad”.
Emergency workers established a command centre and triage area to tend to the injured. Those hurt were being moved to a tunnel below the Grandstand Stage.
UPDATE: The death toll has now risen to five, our thoughts go to all those affected by this tragic accident. It is unlikely that the structure would ever have been designed to withstand such strong winds, though there will clearly be a full investigation following this incident.
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