Stage Collapse Kills Concert-Goers in Belgium
Incident is latest in a series of collapses at outdoor concerts; Mountain Park operator takes precautions
 A man climbs a ladder beside a tree that fell on a promotions booth during a storm at the Pukkelpop music festival in Kiewit Hasselt on August 18, 2011. A violent storm hit an outdoor rock music festival Thursday in northern Belgium, leaving at least two person dead and 40 others seriously injured, firefighters said. Two stages collapsed, one falling on the concert-goers. Some giant screens also fell down and trees were uprooted by the fierce storm, the Belga news agency reported. (Pino Misuraca / Getty Images) |
At least three people are reportedly dead after a stage collapsed Thursday during severe weather at a music festival in Belgium.
Initial reports suggest that a storm moving through the grounds at the Pukkelpop Festival in Hasselt, Belgium, caused the Chateau Stage to collapse shortly before Chicago band the Smith Westerns was scheduled to perform.
Cullen Omori, the band’s singer wrote on Twitter, “Stage collapsed max almost got crushed by the tress.[sic] I hope pukkelpop has insurance bc all our [expletive] is broke.” He followed up a minute later with the hope that no one was hurt.
It’s the latest in a series of similar incidents this summer. Four people died last weekend when a stage collapsed in high winds at the Indiana State Fair. And veteran rockers Cheap Trick narrowly escaped injury last month when a stage collapsed during a thunderstorm while they were performing at the Ottawa Blues Festival in Canada. Five other people were injured. Heavy weather also caused an incident earlier this month at a Flaming Lips concert in Oklahoma City.
Although officials are investigating in each case, sudden, severe weather seems to have played a role, prompting NPR to question who’s inspecting outdoor stages and Entertainment Weekly to wonder whether it’s possible to adequately protect concert-goers from nature.
Locally, Mountain Park in Holyoke has the only temporary outdoor stage similar to the ones generally used at festivals. Venue owner Iron Horse Entertainment Group hires a company it has worked with for years to erect the stage every summer using stamped engineering drawings, Eric Suher, owner of IHEG, said Thursday afternoon. The stage is also examined by the Holyoke building inspector.
Still, temporary stages aren’t built to withstand heavy winds, and venue staff monitors the weather via radar during shows at Mountain Park. Suher said he wouldn’t hesitate to instruct crowds to evacuate the venue under certain weather conditions, and he once shut down a Saw Doctors concert at Look Park in Northampton when radar showed a severe thunderstorm moving in from the Berkshires.
“Our concern is for the safety of the patrons first and foremost,” Suher said.
No comments:
Post a Comment