Just been reading a man from south Yorkshire was killed

When a stage collapsed at a radiohead concert in Canada.
Sorry if already posted

 

The collapse of a stage being set up for a Radiohead concert in Toronto killed one man and sent another to hospital with serious injuries Saturday afternoon.
VICTOR BIRO/DEMOTIX
Josh Tapper and Niamh Scallan
Staff Reporters

The man crushed after a fatal stage collapse at Downsview Park Saturday has been identified as a drum tech for the British band Radiohead.

A Radiohead spokesperson confirmed to the Star the victim was Scott Johnson, 33, from Doncaster, England.

Johnson, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was killed by a “heavy, crushing injury,” police said.

The Australian Pink Floyd — Johnson once toured with the tribute band — posted a memorial on Facebook Sunday calling Johnson “the best drum tech in the industry.” Johnson also toured with the British band Keane.

It remains unclear what caused the stage to collapse, but investigators from the provincial Ministry of Labour were at the scene Sunday assessing the damage. Toronto police have sent three forensic specialists to investigate the accident.

The Radiohead concert was the final date of an 11-show North American tour that started in late May. The band played at Montreal’s Bell Centre Friday night.

The grassy venue inside Toronto’s Downsview Park was a flurry of activity late Saturday afternoon — the air was hot and the sky sunny and clear. As staff went about their final preparations, a crush of Radiohead fans waited to flood the gates for the sold-out evening concert.

Inside the beer tent, Oana Damian, 23, and a handful of other workers had just sat down for a meeting with their employer around 4 p.m. when she heard a loud, crackling sound — like “fireworks” — coming from the stage area.

Damian turned around and watched in horror as the stage’s back scaffolding began to twist and snap, the white billowing canopy collapsing onto the stage where a work crew was preparing for the concert.

Standing nearby, Irene Constantin, another beer-tent worker, said the mangled metal and scaffolding “looked like toothpicks.”

“Everything went quiet for a few seconds and then people started jumping over the tables, running towards the stage,” said Damian, recalling the dozens of workers who ran to help.

Minutes later, one stage worker was dead and three others injured. The concert, which was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., was cancelled immediately.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union said Saturday it was not involved in the construction of the stage.

“Regardless of who was involved, the stage collapse is a tragic event and we offer our most sincere condolences to the family of the deceased, and our thoughts are with those who were injured,” said the union’s Jim Brett.

Fire crews arrived at the scene within minutes of the collapse and began to scour the stage after hearing that a worker was trapped beneath the debris. According to Tony Bellavance, platoon chief with Toronto Fire north command, crews used inflatable bags to prop up the debris and pull the man from the wreckage.

Another man, 45, was taken to Sunnybrook hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Paramedics treated two other male victims for minor injuries at the scene; they were later released.

Roughly 40,000 fans were expected to attend the concert, Radiohead’s first in Toronto since a 2008 appearance at the Molson Amphitheatre.

With files from Antonia Zerbisias, Ben Rayner and Graham Slaughter


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Just seen it on the news. Nobody should die doing their job, not a job like this. Poor bloke.