Four dead in stage collapse at Indiana State Fair

Witnesses said the wind hit minutes after a safety warning was given on stage

At least four people have died after a stage collapsed at a concert in the US state of Indiana, officials say.

The authorities said the stage came down during a storm at
the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis as the band Sugarland were about
to perform.


Police said another 40 people had been injured, some critically. A number of people were trapped under the wreckage.


The Indianapolis Star newspaper said winds of up to 60mph (96 km/h) had been felt at the site.


The collapse happened as some of the 12,000 concertgoers were
being evacuated from the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand at around 21:00
local time (01:00 GMT), said the paper.

"There have been four confirmed deaths. Our prayers are with the families of all affected," it said.

Media reports said a number of children were among those taken to hospital.


Capt Brad Weaver of Indiana State Police said he had just given a safety announcement on stage when the winds hit.


He had taken cover behind a trailer and "saw the framework from the stage start to come over".


Pure pandemonium
Capt Weaver said security officials and members of the public
immediately helped to lift the staging to free people trapped
underneath.


He told a press conference he did not believe there was anything else that could have been done to prevent to collapse.

Video taken at the event shows the stage collapsing as people screamed

A man named Chris who attended the concert told the BBC: "It was the worst thing I have witnessed in my life."


"We could see the sky get really dark and there was
lightening and thunder. It almost seemed like a hurricane hit out of
nowhere.


"The stage just leaned to the right and crashed down. It felt
to me like it was in slow motion. Everyone was scrambling and it was
horrifying because you knew people were underneath it."


Stacia Matthews, a reporter for RTV6, said the scene was "pure pandemonium".


"All the aluminium, the light fixtures, speakers - all of
that collapsed onto the stage and onto the track where children and
adults were waiting for the concern to begin," she told the BBC.


"People said they dove underneath the debris to remove people who were trapped."


Some of those who died were believed to have been members of the crew who had been working on the light rigging, she said.


Indianapolis Star reporter David Lindquist said the staging "fell from left to right".


"This is bad, very bad", he told the paper. "You could clearly see people were under the footprint of the rigging."


But he said it took rescue workers less than 20 minutes to free those trapped.


Another witness, Aaron Richman, told CNN: "You could see a
lot of people panicking. All the scaffolding and speakers - all that
came crashing down - and the whole stand just collapsed."


Sugarland's singer Jennifer Nettles said the band were "stunned and heartbroken" by the incident.


"We hold those injured in our prayers at this very sad time. There are no words. It is tragic."