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Investigation continues into stage collapse at Indiana State
Posted: Aug 14, 2011 9:22 PM by Stephanie Collins
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An investigation continues into last night's collapse of a grandstand stage at the Indiana State Fair, where the country duo Sugarland was scheduled to perform.
Rigging and a lighting system covering the stage tilted forward and fell onto the crowded front rows following a burst of wind believed to be 60-to-70 miles per hour.
At least five people were killed, four of them pronounced dead in the immediate aftermath. Dozens of other people remain hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
The accident is being investigated by the Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the state fire marshal's office. Gov. Mitch Daniels calls the collapse an "unthinkable tragedy," adding that the wind burst was a fluke that no one could have predicted.
The chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Indiana says the gust of wind was far stronger than gusts measured in other areas of the fairgrounds.
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