Sugarland concert stage collapse.

[kedie]

4 dead. WTHR.

 

[Johnson]

State Police reporting at least 4 dead, with others having serious head injuries.

 

[phylodog]

That's awful

 

[7th Stepper]

From watching channel 13 news, it's awful! They've declared a "Level 1" trauma situation, which means they expect mass trauma and all the local hospitals are on alert.

Fortunately Methodist & Wishard hospitals are Level 1 trauma hospitals, so the victims will be in good hands. They're the 2 best in the State. They showing it live on TV 13, apparently a gust of wind (mph unknown) came in and blew the whole roof of the stage down, taking the stage seats with it. They just had a cell video of the entire structure coming down on the crowd. There wasn't enough notice for people to evacuate before it collapsed.

Prayers are coming in hot and heavy from myself and my prayer partners. I hope no one was killed or seriously injured. (Update: 4 people have been killed, 2 more with severe head injuries.) They're still assessing the count. What an awful thing to have happen!

They're calling in EMS from all over, I don't know if BOR will be called in or not, he's a bit far away, but if he's called, he'll go. They're going to use air bags to try and pump up the rigging, to see if they can raise the stands to see if anyone else is trapped underneath.

They're definitely blaming it on the wind that just blew thru just before the actual storm. Tune in, they're going to need all the prayers they can get! (Update, there were about 200 people in the "SugarPit", which is an area where the fans were right there next to the stage.) It all happened in a matter of seconds. One woman there suffered a heart attack from the shock of what happened.

The phones are iffy, cell coverage is sketchy because of the storms. They're saying call the hospitals to find out if you have a loved one or friend who was injured and possibly brought there for treatment. If you're family you may get info, if a friend, you'll get the basics, but no details. It's a HIPPA matter.

KUDOS to the fans who rushed to the stage, to help lift the rigging to free the people who were trapped underneath. They were unrelated to the people underneath, they just rushed in to help. Total strangers helping out when and where they could. It makes me proud to live in a state where people care about and for what happens, regardless of the situation. They're saying 12+ people were injured in various degrees of severity, but they believe that all the injured have been gotten out and taken to the 2 above mentioned hospitals.
7th Stepper

Tune in to TV 13 for live reports. They're right on top of it, with live shots and camera feed from all angles. And a BIG THANK YOU to all the local PD, Sheriffs, ISP, and EMS for moving with the speed of light to get to where the injured were and start triaging them according to the severity of the injuries. They all worked "hand in glove", which is a true tribute to the togetherness of those agencies! THANK YOU!

 

[Naptown]

Damn

 

[jfed85]

Sad stuff, Going to see a concert and something crazy like this happens. Me and the Girlfriend were thinking about going too. one thing I will say though, for anyone who has seen that stage it does seem sort of flimsy the way it is set up. With the weather we have here im suprised nobody saw this coming or thought about a more sturdy structure.

In any event its very sad, prayers to all those involved.

 

[mjrducky]

All i can say is its crazy here. Still inside due to the rain. It came so fast the stage was down in seconds. Seemed like slow motion at the time. Front area was under the stage frame and speakers. People trying to lift it and waiting on paramedics. Then the rain and wind came.

 

[redneckmedic]

I've been listening to the MECA traffic live, lots of chaos, however as always, training has made all the difference. This seems to be going text book, aside a few grounds issues.

 

[Johnson]

Glad you are OK, Mjrducky. Anyone heard from Shooter521?

 

[spitfire51]

I was at the concert, just got home a little while ago. Thankfully for me I was in the upper level well away from everything. It was between the opening act and Sugarland, we all could see a storm was coming. A guy came on stage and said the concert would be starting in a few minutes, and if the storm hit they were going to postpone things, have us all head inside, and resume when it was over. Two minutes later the storm hit, the winds picked up, and people slowly started moving inside. Then the scaffolding over the stage started to tip, and everyone down in the front rows started to run away, but they had almost no time before everything collapsed.

After it came down, almost everyone started moving back forward to do whatever they could to help. I tried to make it down there too but by the time I did all I could do was help clear away some chairs to make a path for the EMTs. Later on when I was leaving, we tried to tell some people who hadn't been there what had happened and they actually didn't believe us. I can safely say it was the absolute last thing I would've expected to see happen tonight, right now I'm just counting my lucky stars I wasn't closer (I would've been had this happened at their concert last year), and praying for everyone hurt and their families.

 

[cowgirl.sdm]

I have been watching the news since this happened. So sad! Lots of prayers for everyone involved.

 

[phylodog]

WTHR just reported 3 confirmed dead, possibly more. That's a change from the 4 they reported earlier.

 

[Whosyer]

WISH has 4 fatalities reported.

 

[canav844]

Just got home from the fair, we considered going to the concert but decided not to. Been listening to the scanner ever since I heard it happened while assisting in a weather spotter net. Response has been well coordinated from the get go.

Prayers to those that are injured, and those that lost loved ones today.

 

[cowgirl.sdm]

Wishtv 4 dead; abc says 24 injured at least one young child, 3 dead; fox 59 says 4 dead

 

[singlestacksig]

I think the Coroner has only confirmed 3, but more than that may have died..

 

[Roadie]

Just terrible.

But, I have to say, the pics and vids of people running TO the stage to try and help made me proud to be a Hoosier!

 

[RockofStrength]

Just terrible.

But, I have to say, the pics and vids of people running TO the stage to try and help made me proud to be a Hoosier!

+1 for those Fairgoers.

Another +1 for the emergency responders. From what I'm getting, they arrived within minutes to provide aid.

 

[Roadie]

+1 for those Fairgoers.

Another +1 for the emergency responders. From what I'm getting, they arrived within minutes to provide aid.

Agreed. They are saying the emergency response was amazing..

 

[Hammerhead]

The family and I were up at Conner Prairie for the Symphony on the Prairie this evening. The show up there was also concerned about the weather. The band came on and played about 6 songs, but the ISO didn't join them. Right after that, they came out and told us to head to our cars, but to hang out and see if the show would resume.

Tons of people immediately left, and the storms hit up there about half an hour later, so they canceled the show.

Prayers to those injured and condolences to those who lost family in this tragedy.


ETA: Just as a point of clarification, the rain cancellation at the Symphony on the Prairie is no where near as important as the tragedy at the fair. My intent was to only compare the fact that we were at a concert, and told to evacuate a half an hour before the storms hit.

It seems as if the time lines for the events were similar. The ISO didn't play with the featured performers when they took the stage, because of the possibility of inclement weather. Both venues wanted the show to go on, and both venues put on a partial show.

We were waiting in our car for the announcement as to whether or not we'd be completely canceled when the tragedy took place at the fair. The wind had been picking up and the storms blowing in while we waited, and it wasn't until the rain hit, our event was canceled and we left the venue that we heard that a tragedy took place while we were out in the same storm.

The tragedy at the fair is a somber reminder that the people at the Symphony on the Prairie could have easily have had the same problem if the concert had continued. The stage at Conner Prairie is semi-temporary and basically a big silver tarp over a metal structure tied down over a very similar stage. Before we were evacuated, there were more than a hundred people in front of the stage at Conner Prairie.

I don't know if it suffered any damage, but there might have been two tragedies tonight if we weren't told to leave. I'm personally disappointed that our concert didn't happen, but that pales in comparison to what they suffered and we could have too.