At Least 3 Dead, 70 Injured After Storm Hits Belgium's PUKKELPOP Festival

August 18, 2011

At least three people were killed when stage equipment, towers, a tent and a tree collapsed earlier today after a wind and hail storm hit the Pukkelpop festival in Hasselt, Belgium. In addition, more than 70 people were injured and the festival was halted, with as many as 60,000 attendees having left the mud-filled grounds, according to the Associated Press.

Chokri Mahassine, the organizer of the festival, told reporters "we have for now put the festival on hold until we understand the situation completely."

DEFTONES, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, BRING ME THE HORIZON, SUICIDIAL TENDENCIES, APOCALYPTICA and WITHIN TEMPTATION are among the artists who were scheduled to perform at this year's edition of Pukkelpop, an annual festival which was launched in 1985.

Last weekend, a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair and sent steel scaffolding into the crowd below, killing five people and injuring dozens more.

On July 17, CHEAP TRICK barely avoided being crushed when the stage at the Ottawa Bluesfest collapsed during a storm. A few were injured, but no one was killed.

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