The next stage collapse, Pukkelpop, Belgium, 4 dead

Re: The next stage collapse, Pukkelpop, Belgium, 4 dead

Indy and Ottawa were enough to get wide public attention, and this will just add fuel to the fire. Another very sad loss of life. I am quite certain that in the future we will look back on this cluster of disastrous events as the catalyst for change, whatever that might look like.

Interesting times.
 
Re: The next stage collapse, Pukkelpop, Belgium, 4 dead

Jeff Babcock said:
Indy and Ottawa were enough to get wide public attention, and this will just add fuel to the fire. Another very sad loss of life. I am quite certain that in the future we will look back on this cluster of disastrous events as the catalyst for change, whatever that might look like.

Interesting times.
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I really hope so.

First of all, I think we need a standard of who has the authority to call a show, regardless of money and contract considerations.
 
Stage collapse at Pukkelpop

Looks like mother nature took down another stage, this time in Belgium.

http://www.billboard.com/news/repor...-storm-at-pukkelpop-festival-1005321482.story

I'm honestly surprised anything survived based on the videos I've seen. I know the regulations are a lot more strict at these festivals, and they don't mess around with the build quality of anything. This looks like a case purely of mother nature showing it's raw power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLO5zl5s4XY



Evan
 
Re: The next stage collapse, Pukkelpop, Belgium, 3 dead

Christian Tepfer said:
What is going on? The next accident:

http://www.spinner.com/2011/08/18/smith-westerns-pukkelpop-stage-collapse/

EDIT: Unrooted trees are said to have brought the rig down. Must have been quite a windforce over there, too.

Clarification: 1 - 6 dead, reports are still unclear.
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I'm going over there tomorrow, I'll keep you posted.
Official death toll stands at 3 now, 11 badly injured people, >70 lightly injured.
As I said, I will try to get as much accurate info as I can gather, and report back.
All media sources were initially wrong, some still are...

Charlie
 
Another staging collapse. Pukkelpop in Belgium

Gents,

Just saw this on BBC's website. 5 people have died during a storm at the Pukkelpop Festival in Hasselt Belgium.

Details are scarce so far, but it looks like multiple tents, stages and video screens were blown over by a storm, killing four immediately and injuring dozens. One more person died of their wounds overnight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14586001
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srnm_hjqnsQ

My thoughts go out to the families of the deceased.

Simon
 
Re: The next stage collapse, Pukkelpop, Belgium, 3 dead

Update:

So far, 5 people dead, 10 still very badly injured, critical. 140 people have been treated for minor injuries.
The Chateau tent collapsed, after it ripped open behind the band. Because of a tree falling? Not sure.
See this horrible video: http://youtu.be/okyx6HbpHmI
One of the fatal casualties happened right there, another one on the camping. The three other deaths occured in hospital.
About the storm: as you can see in the video, everything happened very quick. I have never seen anything like this in Belgium. It started with heavy rains, after a few minutes followed with very bad hail. Then the wind came in and swept everything away. In about 10 minutes, the storm was gone...

The festival has been cancelled, so I won't go there. All this info comes from the internet and the official press conference. Apparantly, no crew or artist was wounded.

I'm in shock, as is the whole Belgian entertainment industry right now. Pukkelpop is our second most important festival, the first one I've ever been to...

If you really need all the gory details, let me know, I'll try to find out.

My thoughts go to the families of the victims and the wounded, to the festival organisers, and everybody that was there.

Stay safe!

Charlie
 
Re: The next stage collapse, Pukkelpop, Belgium, 1-6 dead

I'm not a rigging expert by any means, but are our current practices out of date with these new weather patterns? Or are these examples of people are cutting corners and getting caught, while in calm weather no one would have noticed? I think the last handful of collapses all occurred at events where the weather appears to be biblical.
 
Re: The next stage collapse, Pukkelpop, Belgium, 1-6 dead

Cameron Stuckey said:
I'm not a rigging expert by any means, but are our current practices out of date with these new weather patterns? Or are these examples of people are cutting corners and getting caught, while in calm weather no one would have noticed? I think the last handful of collapses all occurred at events where the weather appears to be biblical.
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Hello,

The weather issue is one thing..... Everyone seems to agree that "Mother Nature" has it's own agenda. That the Earth's storms (or plate shifts) can destroy anything that humans can build.

Building a temporary roof structure to support the Show's equipment is another story.... there are load and wind ratings (provided by the manufacturer) to all of the manufactured roof systems built and sold in the U.S. and Canada. When these roof systems are in-use, someone at the site (the roof contractor) needs to follow all of the Manufacturer's instructions on how the roof is to be constructed and...be mindful of the roof's wind rating during the course of it's use.

In regards to the rigging and roof failures: Every single event needs to be investigated as a SEPARATE event.

There are the main questions of:
Was the rigging proper for the loads?
Was the rigging gear proper for the structure's integrity?
Were the roof systems built as designed, not omitting any pieces of the support structure?
Were the storms/winds in excess of the roof system's wind ratings?
Were the loads on the structure properly distributed?

and then finally... was anyone monitoring the progress of these storms? were those responsible of these shows, or of the stage's delinquent?

Until any of these investigations are complete, it is difficult to determine the correct course of action in regards to structural upgrades, new mindset in regards to weather conditions (or possible conditions), proper construction procedures, or human failures...... as some of these issues may have played a sole part, or a combination of these, to cause the incidents.

Hammer
 
Re: The next stage collapse, Pukkelpop, Belgium, 3 dead

Hi,

UPDATE

So, apparantly, somebody died of a "regular" heart attack, a few hours before the storm, and he got counted as a casualty of the storm.
This means:

1 girl died at the camping, as she was seeking cover from the storm in her tent with her friend. A Layher scaffolding fell over, killing her instantly, and wounding her friend very badly at the legs.
1 guy died at the collapse of the Chateau Tent. He got out safely, but then went back to get his backpack, and got hit by a piece of tubing that was flying around.
2 people (a young couple) died at the shelter next to the Boiler Room, as a piece of truss broke, probably due to excessive water collected on the sail. Somebody else lost an arm here apparantly. Keep in mind that 36 liter/sq. m. fell here in 10 minutes, thats what normally falls in a month!

There are still 3 people fighting for their lives, some in (induced) coma.

I'll keep you updated...

Charlie.
 
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