Stage collapse - One dead many injured

[BillESC]

BANGKOK: -- One person has been killed and at least 10 injured when a concert stage collapsed before its scheduled performance in Udon Thani province.

Police in Mueang district received reports of the incident at around 00.30 this morning, which took place at Vessuwan event site in Nakhon Udon Thani Municipality compound.

Rescue workers and police officers arrived at the scene to discover that the entire right-hand side of the concert stage has collapsed, along with a large projector mounted on the metal structure. 11 people were trapped inside the wreckage at the time the police arrived, one of them severely injured.

The rescue workers eventually managed to extract all wounded victims from underneath the collapsed structures, but one of them later passed away at hospital.

Mr. Pachanapan Sornjai, 36, identified himself as the manager of concert stage construction under AV System company and told police that his team was preparing the stage for an international music event called MTV Exit Live In Udon Thani, which is due to open its door on 15 March.

The event, unrelated to a US-based music corporation with the same name, was slated to feature many famous Thai bands such as Body Slam, Slot Machine, and Kala, along with guest rock and pop musicians from neighbouring countries, including Malaysia and Laos, according to Mr. Pacharapan.

The manager told police that over 20 staff were perched on the concert stage structures to install lighting equipment when some metal joints moved away from their locking spots, causing the entire structure to collapse by enourmous weight of the giant projector and other equipment.

Mr. Pacharapan said he would consult with the company executives whether to postpone the concert.

The police did not immediately press charges against anyone, stating that a further investigation is needed.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co...wsid=1394696038

 

[JohnD]

There are more photos posted at Prosoundweb.com:
Mother Nature takes down another music concert....

 

[gafftaper]

Interesting, the person Bill quoted said, "some metal joints moved away from their locking spots" while the guy from PSW says it was caused by high winds.

 

[MarshallPope]

Could the separation have been caused by wind? Just speculating, but is it possible that the structure could have been incorrectly assembled and wind was the final straw?

 

[gafftaper]

Could the separation have been caused by wind? Just speculating, but is it possible that the structure could have been incorrectly assembled and wind was the final straw?

That makes a lot more sense.

The guy on PSW said, "This time of the year, wind storms are very active with one min calm and the next min, 35-45 MPH winds. No need to say more".

No, actually that statement creates a need to say a lot more. First, while 35-45MPH is not to be ignored, it's definitely on the low end of dangerous wind storms (I believe the Indiana State fair tragedy had winds over 60 MPH). Second, if the stage was assembled in an area where sudden gusts of wind to 45 mph are common, then one should plan for that in the design process. A 45MPH gust of wind in an area known for wind gusts to 45 MPH is not a surprise.

Thus we are left with either really bad design or something was improperly installed. You can't just blame this on the wind.

 

[porkchop]

Obviously I don't have any knowledge of the rig, but looking at the pictures it looks like at least one of the pairs of towers were individually supported not connected to another pair to create a box. It's hard to tell what kind of guy wire setup (if any) was being used, but that design is inherently unstable.
On a side note the two guys standing on that stage are CRAZY.

 

[taptotweet]

On a side note the two guys standing on that stage are CRAZY.

Exactly - considering that several sticks of truss (including the one they're under) are being supported by the edge of the stage, I would have to be manhandled onto there.

 

[StradivariusBone]

Do they automatically pitch all the truss after a failure like that? Or is there a way to determine if it's undamaged?

 

[porkchop]

Being that the incident was in SE Asia there's a decent chance that anything salvageable will be re-used, depending on who owns it. As far as things go on the home-front, I know of several US truss companies that will inspect your truss and give you advice on what to do about any damage. I know of at least one will take pretty much any pro qualify piece of truss (even if they didn't make it) and repair it. My understanding is that this isn't a super common practice because often recycling the old stuff and buying new is more cost effective than to get the damaged stuff to the facility, get it repaired, and get it back to where you need it. There may be a few other very specific situations that have other options, but that's really beyond the scope of things we like to talk about here.

This all of course assumes that the production company actually does something about their damaged truss of course....