• Belgium music festival canceled after stage collapse kills 5
    12 replies, posted
[quote](CNN) -- One of Europe's largest outdoor music festivals was canceled after a stage collapsed during a violent storm in Belgium, killing five people and wounding 50 others, organizers said. Belgian authorities confirmed Friday that the death toll has gone up. "A fifth person has died," Andy Payne, spokesman for the nation's crisis center, told CNN. He said he did not know the circumstances surrounding the death. The storm struck Thursday just hours after Pukkelpop kicked off. The scheduled three-day event was in Hasselt, east of Brussels. Strong winds ripped up trees and smashed them into one of the festival's eight stages, Belga national press agency reported. Belgian authorities are investigating the stage collapse, which struck those who had gathered to watch the Smith Westerns perform, Belga reported. "Pukkelpop is in deep mourning. We truly sympathize with the families and friends of the victims," said a statement posted by organizers on the festival website. "Words are not enough. We have struggled with the decision to continue the festival. Therefore we have decided to cancel Pukkelpop 2011." More than 60,000 people were expected to attend Pukkelpop, which was to feature music by the Foo Fighters, 30 Seconds to Mars and Eminem, organizers said. "We call on all Pukkelpoppers to return home calmly," the statement said. Organizers said they were providing additional buses and train service to get festival-goers home. "We ask everyone to understand that this decision was extremely difficult to make," the statement said. Jared Leto, lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars, was preparing to take the stage when the storm struck. "Four stages down -- still raining + thunder," Leto tweeted. "If you are here, please be safe." An hour later, he tweeted "serious injuries at the festival." The Foo Fighters, who were set to headline the festival on the main stage Thursday, tweeted: "Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the tragic events." Event organizers reached by telephone declined a CNN request for comment, saying they would reserve their comments for a scheduled news conference. The Belgium incident follows one a week earlier in the United States, when a storm caused a stage to collapse at the Indiana State Fair. Five people were killed and 40 wounded in the accident that occurred just before the country music duo Sugarland was to take the stage. In early August, severe weather caused a stage to collapse just before a Flaming Lips performance in Oklahoma. A month earlier, a severe storm toppled a stage while rock band Cheap Trick was performing at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest in Canada. No serious injuries were reported in that incident.[/quote] [url]http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/08/19/belgium.storms/index.html?iref=allsearch[/url] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUqmxtAB5g&feature=player_embedded#![/media] [media]http://youtu.be/9w3ZsAb5ikA[/media] skunk anansie playing and goes crazy at 1:30
Someone is sabotaging stages around the world.
I have a deja-vu feeling right now.
[QUOTE=CharadesV2;31821515]Someone is sabotaging stages around the world.[/QUOTE] [img]http://www.licensemag.com/licensemag/data/articlestandard//licensemag/202005/161191/i6.jpg[/img] #1 Opponent of fun and fun activities.
somewhat misleading title, a freak storm caused the collapse...
Wow, again?
A lot of my friends were there, it was hell, the cellular network was overloaded, everybody panicked and tried to escape, and at home lots of people (including me) were trying to see if everyone was alright. Thankfully, a lot of people living nearby offered a safe place to sleep for the people at the festival.
[QUOTE=Egonny;31822566]A lot of my friends were there, it was hell, the cellular network was overloaded, everybody panicked and tried to escape, and at home lots of people (including me) were trying to see if everyone was alright. Thankfully, a lot of people living nearby offered a safe place to sleep for the people at the festival.[/QUOTE] Same here. I live at about 15 minutes from the festival, and was meant to go there myself yesterday. I can praise myself lucky (unlike a bunch of my friends) that all the tickets were sold before I had the required money. Still haven't heard from a few that went.
I was there when it happened, I was in the camping area in a tent with some friends and once it started raining hard we were like "screw this we're staying in the tent". Then we all got hit in the head by hail :smith:
I was at this tent [url]http://yfrog.com/z/klbn8mgj[/url] Saw 4-5 people laying on the floor, all blood. 1 wasn't moving anymore... Everyone screaming and crying.
And a couple of days ago I felt sad because I had to study instead of go to Pukkelpop... The drama on FB makes me rage though. People seem to jump on every chance they get to display how empathic they can be... (the people that actually were there joke about how great of a party it was :v:) It sucks though that people died...
I was gonna go normally. But I didn't go because i didn't like the line-up. A few of my friends were there though, some of them are ok, others i don't know yet. Fingers crossed they aren't injured. [editline]19th August 2011[/editline] this page has a lot of videos... [url]http://www.krimineel.com/pukkelpop-ramp-door-noodweer[/url]
What's with all the concert collapses? Its like the third time this year already.
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