Deadly Storm Strikes Belgium's Pukkelpop Festival

[Powerage]

At least two people have been killed at the Pukkelpop music festival in Belgium after a sudden storm caused two stages to collapse, reports say.

Television pictures from the scene, about 65km (40 miles) east of Brussels, showed fallen stage rigging and people scrambling for cover.

Initial reports in the Belgian media said four people had been killed.

About 60,000 people were believed to be at the event, one of Europe's largest outdoor festivals.

The mayor of the town of Hasselt, where Pukkelpop is held, said 40 people were injured, AP news agency reported.

The TV images showed rain-soaked festival-goers bracing against strong winds. Fallen gantries and rigging could be seen on the ground.

Belgian media reported that trees were uprooted by the violent storm and smashed into the stage, bringing it down.

Some festival-goers said on the Twitter website that a tornado had struck.

The BBC's Matthew Cole, in Brussels, said the storms swept across Belgium in the early evening, turning the sky dark.

Five people were killed last week at a festival in the US state of Indiana when a stage collapsed in high winds.

BBC.co.uk

Twice in the space of a week, in different parts of the World... Unbelievable. Thoughts with those affected by this.

I know someone working there, luckily she's alright.

 

[LG]

And counting the one in Ottawa earlier this year that makes three outdoor stage collapses.

If nothing else they will have to rethink how they build the temporary stages and keep the fans back far enough that any initial collapse won't fall directly on top of them.

If it was a big tornado there could have been 1000's of casualties, and there is no temporary structure we can build to withstand the forces they have in them.

Hope the death toll doesn't rise anymore and my thoughts are with the people who have lost a loved one.

 

[Phil B.]

Thoughts go out to the victims of this...

 

[Magic]

This is horrible!

I feel so bad for all the people injured and the families who have lost loved ones.



I know the stage collapse in the USA has an investigation team that will go over that scene with a fine tooth comb. The investigators are the same ones that conducted the investigation at the 911 scene. Hopefully, the conclusion will be that these elaborate temporary stages need to have safer construction.