Kevin Costner Has Near Miss in Deadly Stage Collapse
Witnesses saw actor pulling victims from stage wreckage: report
By XANA O'NEILL
Updated 11:04 AM EDT, Sun, Aug 2, 2009
Kevin Costner and his country band were set to walk on stage at a Canadian music festival when it collapsed, killing one and injuring as many as 40 after a powerful storm swooped in and forced thousands to run for cover.
Fans began to scream as a storm with hurricane-level winds showered marble-sized hail on the thousands in attendance at the Big Valley Jamboree near Edmonton, Alberta, last night, according to Canadian television station CTV.
"We were all racing for the exit," said fan Lori Trelenberg, according to The New York Daily News. "It was devastation. It was strong and powerful. The stage just sort of crumbled."
Country singer Billy Currington was on the main stage wrapping up his set when the main stage collapsed. He was bloodied when pulled out of the wreckage but was otherwise fine, according to reports.
Fifteen people were rushed to the hospital and four were considered "critically injured," according to CTV.
Costner's band, Modern West, was about to take the stage when the storm rolled through. The singer was not injured but went to the hospital to comfort others, The News reported.
Costner was seen helping people out of the wreckage and two members of his band were taken to the hospital, gossip website TMZ reported.
"It felt like bombs were going off around us in this concrete and steel building, Huge hits of power hitting the building, and then the lights were off," country music singer Jessie Ferrell told CTV News.
"Lightening, hail, thunder ... it looked like a tornado," she said. "Debris was flying everywhere."
First Published: Aug 2, 2009 9:57 AM EDT
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