Stage collapse during Smith Westerns show in Belgium kills at least 3
HASSELT, Belgium - At least three concertgoers were killed and many more injured when a stage at the open-air Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium collapsed Thursday during a set by Chicago band Smith Westerns.
A heavy storm hit just as the band began playing. The band was able to get off stage before the collapse and was unhurt, according to frontman Cullen Omori's Twitter feed.
Later in the day, he said in a statement that the band had finished its first song when the stage began shaking. They assumed it was "a storm passing through… We were about to play the next one when out tour manager yelled at me to run off the stage. Right then (a metal bar that holds up the tent) collapsed 1 foot in front of" guitarist Max Kakacek.
"Amid the chaos it was hard to tell exactly what had happened," the statement continued, "but after the rescue teams started coming in it became clear that there were severe injuries and we are now being told there are reports of multiple deaths. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones in today's tragedy."
More more festival-goers were injured, when a brief burst of high winds and heavy rain flattened tents, uprooted trees, pulled the roof off a stage and brought down giant screens, officials said.
"It was frightening. It looked terrible. All the structures collapsed," said Brinnie Gardner, 20, of Aukland, New Zealand, who is on a tour of Europe with a friend. "There was panic. It was crazy."
One was killed on the festival grounds and another on a campsite, Hilde Claes, mayor of the eastern Belgian city of Hasselt told a news conference. The local fire service later said a third person had died.
Hugo Simons, Hasselt's head of emergency medical planning, told VRT radio that 11 had been severely injured and 60 had sustained light injuries as a result of the storm.
Video from the site showed stage equipment dangling in high winds as rain-soaked concertgoers at the music festival ran for cover. Trees and branches all around the area were downed, evidence of the sudden ferocity of the winds.
Ambulances ferried the seriously injured to nearby hospitals. Some of those lightly injured were being treated at a local sports complex. More than 20 ambulances were dispatched to the festival ground.
Images of the disaster showed fallen lighting scaffolds. Dutch NOS television reporter Rick Hoogkamp, who was attending the concert Thursday, said several tents collapsed. An AP reporter saw concession stands blown down and a large food tent spread across the ground.
One of those who watched a tent collapse was Laura Elegeert, 17, of Saint-Nicolas, Belgium.
"It was utter confusion, mass panic," Elegeert said. "People were trying to get out of this tent that collapsed by using their pocket knives and cutting holes in the fabric."
Two cranes were brought in to try to lift the large tent late Thursday, but the ground appeared too swamped for them to reach the area.
Chokri Mahassine, the organizer of the festival, said, "We have for now put the festival on hold until we understand the situation completely."
Reported attendance for the three-day sold-out event, which started Thursday in Hasselt, about 50 miles east of Brussels, was estimated at 60,000. It was the second major stage collapse at a pop concert in the past week; five people (including one Chicagoan) were killed last Saturday when a stage at the Indiana State Fair collapsed just before a concert from the country band Sugarland.
The Smith Westerns were "shaken but safe," said Daniel Gill, their publicist. He added that it was their first date on a two-week European tour and most of their equipment was destroyed, "though, of course, that's kind of an afterthought at the moment."
The three-day Pukkelpop festival was set to have featured rapper Eminem and bands Foo Fighters and The Offspring.
The festival was suspended and organizers were meeting to decide whether to proceed Friday and Saturday as planned.
-- (Reuters, Associated Press, and Tribune wires contributed to this report)
A heavy storm hit just as the band began playing. The band was able to get off stage before the collapse and was unhurt, according to frontman Cullen Omori's Twitter feed.
Later in the day, he said in a statement that the band had finished its first song when the stage began shaking. They assumed it was "a storm passing through… We were about to play the next one when out tour manager yelled at me to run off the stage. Right then (a metal bar that holds up the tent) collapsed 1 foot in front of" guitarist Max Kakacek.
"Amid the chaos it was hard to tell exactly what had happened," the statement continued, "but after the rescue teams started coming in it became clear that there were severe injuries and we are now being told there are reports of multiple deaths. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones in today's tragedy."
More more festival-goers were injured, when a brief burst of high winds and heavy rain flattened tents, uprooted trees, pulled the roof off a stage and brought down giant screens, officials said.
"It was frightening. It looked terrible. All the structures collapsed," said Brinnie Gardner, 20, of Aukland, New Zealand, who is on a tour of Europe with a friend. "There was panic. It was crazy."
One was killed on the festival grounds and another on a campsite, Hilde Claes, mayor of the eastern Belgian city of Hasselt told a news conference. The local fire service later said a third person had died.
Hugo Simons, Hasselt's head of emergency medical planning, told VRT radio that 11 had been severely injured and 60 had sustained light injuries as a result of the storm.
Video from the site showed stage equipment dangling in high winds as rain-soaked concertgoers at the music festival ran for cover. Trees and branches all around the area were downed, evidence of the sudden ferocity of the winds.
Ambulances ferried the seriously injured to nearby hospitals. Some of those lightly injured were being treated at a local sports complex. More than 20 ambulances were dispatched to the festival ground.
Images of the disaster showed fallen lighting scaffolds. Dutch NOS television reporter Rick Hoogkamp, who was attending the concert Thursday, said several tents collapsed. An AP reporter saw concession stands blown down and a large food tent spread across the ground.
One of those who watched a tent collapse was Laura Elegeert, 17, of Saint-Nicolas, Belgium.
"It was utter confusion, mass panic," Elegeert said. "People were trying to get out of this tent that collapsed by using their pocket knives and cutting holes in the fabric."
Two cranes were brought in to try to lift the large tent late Thursday, but the ground appeared too swamped for them to reach the area.
Chokri Mahassine, the organizer of the festival, said, "We have for now put the festival on hold until we understand the situation completely."
Reported attendance for the three-day sold-out event, which started Thursday in Hasselt, about 50 miles east of Brussels, was estimated at 60,000. It was the second major stage collapse at a pop concert in the past week; five people (including one Chicagoan) were killed last Saturday when a stage at the Indiana State Fair collapsed just before a concert from the country band Sugarland.
The Smith Westerns were "shaken but safe," said Daniel Gill, their publicist. He added that it was their first date on a two-week European tour and most of their equipment was destroyed, "though, of course, that's kind of an afterthought at the moment."
The three-day Pukkelpop festival was set to have featured rapper Eminem and bands Foo Fighters and The Offspring.
The festival was suspended and organizers were meeting to decide whether to proceed Friday and Saturday as planned.
-- (Reuters, Associated Press, and Tribune wires contributed to this report)
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