UPDATE: Three dead, 71 injured as stage collapses at Belgium’s Pukkelpop festival; officials put festival on hold
Reports from various outlets have confirmed that a stage at Belgium’s Pukkelpop music festival collapsed today, killing at least three people and injuring as many as 71 others. Severe weather destroyed the festival’s Chateau stage during a set by Chicago garage-rockers Smith Westerns—prompting some hasty tweets from frontman Cullen Omori. (The tweet cited by Pitchfork and other sources—“Stage collapsed max almost got crushed by the tress. I hope pukkelpop has insurance bc all our shit is broke”—has since been deleted, and Omori has issued an apology.) In an unfortunate coincidence that’s likely to be noted again and again as more details emerge from Pukkelpop, the incident comes only five days after strong winds brought down a stage at the Indiana State Fair.
UPDATE: According to the Associated Press, Pukkelpop officials have “for now put the festival on hold until [they] understand the situation completely.”