Five Dead, Over 40 Injured in State Fair Stage Collapse

“Five Dead, Over 40 Injured in State Fair Stage Collapse” by Texas Personal Injury Attorney Daniel Willis

Saturday evening, a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair before the band Sugarland was set to perform.  As of Sunday morning, five people were confirmed dead and many more injured.  Reportedly, the rigging for the state lighting fell at about 8:50 p.m.  NBC WTHR 13 out of Indianapolis states the following:

“A lot of people unconscious. Broken legs, broken arms, pretty scary. I helped do CPR on somebody, helped transport people, helped triage people out from under the trapped stage,” Chestin said.

Dr. Rob Klinesiver, a critical care doctor who was sitting in the front row, said he treated a girl as young as two years old for a serious injury.

“She had a severe left arm injury, she was bleeding heavily,” he said.

Rain poured down as emergency workers and Samaritans worked to free the victims. As the rain stopped, the commotion started to clear. Those that could make it out were sent to the Pepsi Coliseum for cover and the victims tried to make sense of what happened.

“The winds came, the big dust storm moved from the west and, no sooner than that, hit. The winds hit and the canopy over the stage was just like a big sail. It just picked it up, twisted it and right on top of everybody standing in front of the stage,” said one witness.

You can read more about this story here.

Many times, tragedies such as these could have been avoided.  In general, property owners in Texas have a duty to make their property safe for their customers.  To show that a property owner was liable for an injury, the injured person must show the following:

1. A condition existed on the owner’s property that posed an unreasonable risk of harm;
2. The property owner knew, or should have known, that the condition of their property posed an unreasonable risk of harm;
3. The property owner should have anticipated that a person on the property would not discover the danger or would fail to protect themselves against it;
4. The property owner was negligent in that they created the condition, knew about the condition and negligently failed to correct it or should have known about the condition;
5. Someone was injured as a result of the condition on the property.

If you or someone you know has been injured while on another person’s property, please contact The Begum Law Group today.  As always, it’s free to meet with us and you don’t pay any attorney’s fees until you receive compensation.  We would love to help you.