Radiohead Stage Collapse Kills One
One person has been killed and three more injured after a huge section of the stage collapsed prior to a concert by Radiohead in Canada.
A massive section of ironwork fell onto the stage at Toronto's Downsview Park yesterday afternoon. The concert was cancelled.
According to Toronto Police, the deceased man was in his thirties. Because the show was not open to the audience at the time of the incident, he is likely to have been a member of Radiohead's tour crew - but his name is not yet being released until police are able to notify his family.
Two of the injured people were treated and released with minor injuries. The third, a 45-year-old man, sustained a serious, but not life-threatening injury to his head.
It's not clear if the victims were working on the elevated metalwork or on the stage level when the collapse occurred.
So far Radiohead's only comment has been via their Twitter, which posted what appears to be a hastily written message saying: "Due to unforeseen circumstances tonight's at downsview park tonight has been cancelled. Fans are advised not to make their way to the venue."
The Canadian Broadcasting Company spoke to several concessionaires who were on scene at the time of the accident. Alexandra Mihan reported a sound like fireworks, then hearing screaming and gasping.
She said: "We turned around, and the entire top of the stage has just collapsed. All of the metalwork and all of the screens had just kind of folded over on top of each other."
Photos and videos making their way across the Internet on Saturday painted a similarly grim picture.
Beer vendor Jeff Cole added: "It's very, very fortunate that the gates weren't open, because it would have been pandemonium."