Indianapolis stage collapse cause

The fair canceled all activities Sunday as officials began the long process of determining what happened and fielded difficult questions about whether the tragedy could have been prevented.

Mitch Daniels called the accident an "unthinkable tragedy" and said the wind burst was a "fluke" that no one could have foreseen.

Dan McCarthy, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Indiana, said the burst of wind was far stronger than gusts in other areas of the fairgrounds.

The seemingly capricious nature of the gust was evident Sunday at the fair, where crews placed a blue drape around the grandstand to block the view of the wreckage. A striped tent nearby appeared unscathed, as did an aluminum trailer about 50 yards away.

The Ferris wheel on the midway also escaped damage. First Sgt. Dave Bursten of the Indiana State Police said the lack of damage to structures on the fair's midway or elsewhere supported the weather service's belief that an isolated, significant wind gust caused the rigging to topple.

The stage toppled at p. A timeline released by Indiana State Police shows that fair staff contacted the weather service four times between and 8 p. Bursten said fair officials had begun preparing in case they needed to evacuate visitors for the impending storm. At , additional state troopers moved to the grandstand to help in the event of an evacuation, according to the timeline. Where did the incident take place? Who was involved in the accident?

What was the cause of the accident? What did Kenneth J. Allen Law Group do to prepare for this case? Contact Us If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the wrongful acts of another, then you may have a legal claim for damages as well as the right to justice against the wrongdoer and you are welcomed to contact the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland personal injury lawyers at Allen Law Group to schedule a free initial legal consultation.

Our Locations. Google Map. Nearest Office View All Locations. Allen Law Building. Integrated Publishing. Skip to main content Seeker Archives. Meteorologist Dan McCarthy said at a Sunday news conference that the wind gust was not typical and that wind in other parts of the state fairgrounds wasn't close to that speed.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says no one could have foreseen the blast of wind. They care deeply about their fans and, as they've said, nobody wants to get to the bottom of what happened more than they do. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said his administration "will insist on immediate and complete implementation of the recommendations in this report. Metal scaffolding supporting the stage lights fell onto a crowd of fans and workers as a storm swept through the Indianapolis fairgrounds on August 13, , right before Sugarland was to perform.