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A stage collapse at Toronto's Downsview Park killed one person and injured at least three others setting up for a Radiohead concert, the CBC reported, citing emergency responders.
One person was transported to Sunnybrook Hospital in serious condition while two others were being assessed at the scene, CBC said.
Downsview Park tweeted that the concert was canceled. Show promoter Live Nation Entertainment also announced the show was canceled.
The collapse occurred at 4 p.m. ET, about an hour before venue gates were scheduled to open.
The man who was killed was briefly pinned under the scaffolding and succumbed to a "crushing injury," an official with Toronto Fire Services told CP24.
"From what I understand the piping which makes up the roof structure where lights and what not are supported collapsed down and there was workers setting up the stage at the time," Toronto Fire Services Captain Mike Strapko told broadcaster CP24.
"The big question is how and that is something we will be working closely with the Ministry of Labor on," Constable Tony Vella told reporters at the scene Saturday night.
Alex Mihan
Stage before and after collapse.
Radiohead was scheduled to take the stage a little after 9:30 p.m., CP24 said.
The Weather Channel reported mostly sunny conditions with moderate winds of 5 to 10 mph ahead of the collapse.
Police said a considerable crowd was already waiting for the show when the stage collapsed, CBC reported.
One witness said he "saw the scaffolding around the stage collapsing in on itself and heard the sound of metal hitting metal and within five seconds it was over," CP24 reported.
The park frequently hosts concerts, and 40,000 people were expected for Radiohead's sold-out show, CBC said. The opener was to be Canadian act Caribou.
Radiohead fans expressed dismay on the British modern rock band’s message board.
“So many people lose in this,” said one post by a person calling herself Miss Modular.
“Oh no Person who died today won't get his/her life back,” said a post by spoll.
On Aug. 13, 2011, the Indiana State Fair stage fell, killing seven in a crowd awaiting a Sugarland concert when a windstorm blew in.
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Leave a Comment:
It seems Canada has bad luck with stage collapses. Wasn't sugarland supposed to play at one and that collapsed too?
perhaps bands need to start rethinking the whole collapsible stage concept.
That was in Indiana.
The stage did collapse when Sugarland was in Indianapolis @ the State Fair. It was awefull. My prayers are for the families of the victims and the injured.
The Sugarland one happened in Indiana, and was due to high winds. Most shows of this level are in football stadiums and the like where there is no permanent stage. If the show is custom enough, the act will bring their own staging (like if monitors need to live below deck level, or they have elevators or abnormal stage dimensions), otherwise, it will be in the rider that the purchaser is to provide adequate, safe staging. If you're playing in a stadium (or in this case, a park) that has no permanent stage, you really have no choice.
Okay thanks, I couldn't remember where it was : D Condolences to the family of the victim.
I believe the victims name was Scott Tenorman.
Bands don't own this kind of gear. The promoter is responsible to provide this stuff, unless the venue owns it already, or if the band hires a rental company. In this case, it is likely Live Nation hired the a large staging / truss rental company, and typically these folks have professionally trained techs and engineers on staff - at this level, no doubt the staging / truss build was a major provider. It will be interesting to see if it was an engineering failure, or if the truss / hardware itself failed.
What good will hand-mumbling do? If your cult god was real, maybe it would have had some compassion and simply not allowed the stage to collapse and kill people.
Wow these athiest are an angry bunch. We should rush the entire world to convert to athiesm, that way everybody can be an ignorant condescending human.
Don't compare Sugarland's with this one. Sugarland had a storm with high winds, this did not. Blame bad architectural design for this collapse. Just looking at the photos before and after, the back side looks way to flimsy to hold that much weight with lighting and such.
You're an idiot if you can't recognize the psychological comfort provided to both the injured and the friends/relatives of the injured and deceased by prayer. That is a valid, scientifically proven comfort that many people need in the aftermath of tragedy. Your assertions, devoid of any religious entanglement, ignore the human need for compassion after loss. You're a bigot and a hateful person with a very poor understanding of the human experience.
@ WMG-21, I'm an Atheist, but I do recognize scientific fact that religious people tend to live longer AND happier lives. Don't blame all Atheist's for stupidity, it's rampant in all religions. I know because I'm knee deep in it here in Southern Baptist territory.
http://www.livescience.com/9090-religion-people-happier-hint-god.html
http://positivethought.org/index.php/blog/2-religion/26-evidence-that-religious-people-are-healthier-and-happier
And like I said before, crappy architectural design OR lazy implementation of it.
No worries, Trust. There isn't a brand of human being yet that didn't have at least one idiot among them. I doubt very much there ever will be.
What a horrible tragedy to occur before a band that is so... peaceful. I hope they do a benefit concert for the killed and injured.
"No alarms and no surprises please."
Indeed...
Not cool.
And in a further note, Mitt Romney immediately gave a speech in which he blamed President Obama for the tragedy.
I call BS. This is about an accident that claimed a life/lifes. Leave Obama and Romney out of this. I had enough for them for the week. Again, my prayers are for the family/families.
Really? Leave the politics out, come on...
Get help Vince,you have some serious issues.
Dude...this was in Canada anyway! Get a fricking clue.
You really need to be banned from this board for at least a week for a severe inability to stay on topic. Your inane political ramblings bring nothing to the discussion.
My condolences to the family of the dead and injured. Not good.
The promoter and venue managers probably used non-union unqualified construction crews to save a few bucks. You get what you pay for.
The real BS will be the death toll and cost in human misery when the Repuglicans succeed in buying total control of our government. No regulations, no lawsuits, no recourse. Lots of minimum wage non-union jobs though serving the rich dudes their drinks on the terrace.
That will be the BS we all have to suffer with, real life anguish for millions.
Those rude and obnoxious posters who continue to play political games on sites that are not about politics need to grow up.
The US auto industry nearly died because of the overpaid, incompetent, lazy union
workersemployees.very sad this happened... wtf do republicans have to do with this you idiot
that person was WORKING, probably to support a family.
another O lover
avomonster : Your a frickin Douche Bag!!! & Vince-545056 is a Big Turd !!!! The People that did the Stage setup in Indiana for the Sugarland Concert were Union Stagehands. So Don't go Blowing crap about Union Labor. I am just Glad that it happened Before they opened the Gates & Concert goers & More Stage hands were in harms way. My Condolences to those affected By this Tragedy.
avo - You do realize that Toronto is in Canada, right?
See my post above....I hate to keep repeating myself, unlike some of these "freedom fighters" geeez louise.
@Vince-545056 - And in a further note, Mitt Romney immediately gave a speech in which he blamed President Obama for the tragedy....................And here we go with the political comments again from the boring nerds.
That is so awful! I think these stages need to be investigated for how they are constructed. My goodness, what a sad and needless way to go! My condolences and sympathy to the family who lost a loved one!
I agree, this is a tragedy and I'm sure a very sad time for the victims' loved ones. However, think about how many thousands of concerts are performed each year with this very kind of equipment compared to how many accidents occur. The ratio is well within safety's favor, no matter how devastating the result of one accident may be.
Avomoron: STFU.
Sympathies to the Surviving Friends and Families !
R.I.P
My sympathies to the dead and injured. As hard as this is to take... it's good news that the gates had not opened yet or early. Many more could have been hurt or worse, killed. I do hope the concert can be rescheduled, but only after stricter stage guidelines are followed. No, I don't live anywhere near the concert... just a Very Upset Person about the death and injuries that should not have been.
thats terrible someone lost there life before a celebrational event how is that fair? prayors to the family of the one who passed on this day.
Prayers NOT Politics...please.
prayers are useless -- all to a mythical cult god that didn't have enough compassion to keep a stage from collapsing and killing people...
religion is just as bad, if not worse.
Why can't a stage collapse when Obama is standing on the damn thing?
I know.....it's not nice to wish someone harm, but I really don't like him. and his BS change.
But I like this band.
Only a lowlife repub/tparty would make a comment such as this. Lives were lost, forever. Sympathy to the families. A very sad tragedy indeed!
This is what happens with deregulations.
Apparently not just lowlife repubs, earthgirl, did you see the comments above from Vince-545056 and avomonster?
Freemannogod....I, for one, see your harmless humor and appreciate your right to express it, whether I agree with your views or not.
My prayers to those hurt and injured and there families
I am a semi-retired musician so I know from whence I speak. Some of the set-ups I had to play on in the past were nothing short of dangerous for the bands and the audience. You would think with the high ticket prices for concerts these days, the promoters would at least hire knowledgeable people to do the rigging and such. I remember one outdoor concert that I played in Canada. The lead singer from the opener band walked on stage, grabbed the mike to say hello, and was electrocuted. At first the audience thought it was part of the act, until they realized what had just happened and screamed in horror. Maybe the time has come to have an independent inspector check out the venue setups before any one is allowed to access the staging area. My prayers go out to the injured and their families.
wonder if the stage was manufactured in china? they have lousy steel and lousy products,too bad some one lost thier life over this, id be lookinginto who made the portable stage,
The Chinese get their steel from the US.
...Then they melt it back down and mix it their crap and sell it for the same price.
+
Long live Rock, and Radiohead, too. My condolences.
Radiohead - house of cards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nTFjVm9sTQ
Well then, there you have it. I guess the guy who died was not "so phukin special" afterall. C'mon, somebody had to say it!
Man, seems there is a rash of stage collapses of late.
Is Obama gonna stop his golf game and blame Bush today or tomorrow?
nobody would be surprised to find that this WAS dumbya's fault...
the stage was probably built with substandard materials from Halliburton.
Someone made a huge mistake, and a life was lost. Condolences to the family and friends.
This is probably the work of a collage grad that has no experience in constructing even Lego's. People you can't bolt pipes together and think it's going to hold up the world or even a few thousand pounds. I hope the companies assembling these death traps are held accountable.
A collage grad? Do you mean college, sir? I don't think many crew are collage grads.
Confus(s)ed: Does your mommy know you're using the computer?
And you can't even spell the word COLLEGE... LOL! the irony...
Another 2nd grade dropout that hates anyone who gets an education. A goddam right-wing BuyBull-home-schooled redneck who hates everyone who reads anything other than a cult book. Great. The world needs more of you guys!
I think the guy pointed that out an hour before you did frogmorton. Just what the world needs another 2nd grade dropout reading what someone else wrote and then repeating it like you are some kind of genius. The world need more of you guys!
I really hope that some safety agency starts to look at these temporary stage set-ups to determine if they are safe to perform on. The stage that collapsed last year at the Sugarland concert was bad enough, now this one. What really got me was the Indiana fairground stage wasn't permanent. At Allentown, PA the fairgrounds stage is a well constucted steel beam structure, not one of these flimsy aluminum temporary rigs.
yeah i've been there and u r right