A wind and hail storm has hit the
Pukkelpop Festival in Hasselt , Belgium ,
causing stages to collapse and killing
at least three people , according to a
medical response official . There is
local news video of the storm' s initial
aftermath showing stage equipment
dangling in high winds with festival
goers running for cover . Huge sound
and audio towers appear toppled in
the footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ9LFbl6 ... ata_player

Hugo Simons , the head of emergency
planning in Hasselt told VRT radio that
three people had died with more than
70 injured . The Le Soir newspaper is
reporting that the official death is at
two. Another outlet, The DH daily, had
the tally at four .
According to Le Soir, one person died
on the festival ground and another in
a campground . Initial Belgian reports
indicate a tent collapsed and the roof
of another flew away , while "big
screens have fallen … and several
trees uprooted in the violent rain and
wind. " According to a source , at least
one tree fell onto a stage and another
crushed a food stand.
Chokri Mahassine , the organizer of
the festival, told reporters "we have
for now put the festival on hold until
we understand the situation
completely. " Hasselt is about 50 miles
east of Brussels.

The Chicago indie band Smith
Westerns were on one of the side
stages when the storms rolled
through.
"Stage collapsed max almost got
crushed by the tress . I hope
pukkelpop has insurance bc all our
sh* t is broke ," Smith Westerns
frontman Cullen Omori said on
Twitter. The band quickly deleted the
message when the extent of the
damage began to emerge. "Praying no
one got hurt, " they followed up .
Jared Leto of the band 30 Seconds to
Mars reported from the ground via
Twitter as the storm was happening .
News of this developing tragedy
comes less than a week after the
deadly stage collapse at the Indiana
State Fair .
Started in 1985 , Pukkelpop has
featured headliners like Red Hot Chili
Peppers, Neil Young, Metallica and the
Beastie Boys. Foo Fighters, Eminem
and the Offpsring were slated to be
the 2011 headliners on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday , respectively;
other acts confirmed for Thursday
included Thirty Seconds to Mars ,
James Blake , Explosions in the Sky and
Panic! at the Disco .
The 2011 Pukkelpop fest showcases
eight different stages , including the
Main Stage with acts like the Foos ,
Thirty Seconds to Mars and Rise
Against set for Thursday; the Dance
Hall, scheduled to feature Chromeo
and Katy B; and the Club stage , with
buzz- worthy acts like Fitz & the
Tantrums and the Naked and Famous.
The Chateau stage , which featured
acts like Destroyer, Royal Bangs and
Wolf People , collapsed on Thursday
before scheduled groups like the
Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Kurt Vile & the Violators could perform.tely. "

Yeah I saw, Horrible News !

this is becoming quite common nowdays.
its the so called "stage revenge". spoke stage defender said:"we had enough of you people getting up stage, its the time for stage to get up people."

That's the second fatal stage collapse in a week. Not cool.

5 deaths

everyone's shocked this happened in our country.. this was really scary for me too, i couldn't go but a lot of friends and my girlfriend were there.. tried to contact them but everything was down. I was following everything on the news and twitter (thank god there's twitter..) who said there were several injured. was very scared my girlfriend would be in all that mess, but luckily she got out on time. saw everything happen though: the collapsed stage, the flying equipment, the trees that broke.. and the injured people...

The guy that's in coma now is a friend and collegue of my girlfriend. I know him too from parties and shit, so it's kinda close to me too. Really sad to see how the media is lying about him and his study, and other made up stuff. They really only want a story, I just want him to wake up and enjoy the festival. Too bad... hope he survives his injuries.

That personne which is hardly wounded has died today. RIP