Five people killed at festival Belgium.

[reswati]

Five people have been killed at the Pukkelpop music festival in Belgium after a sudden storm caused two stages to collapse, reports say.

Television pictures from the scene, about 65km (40 miles) east of Brussels, showed fallen stage rigging and people scrambling for cover.

Initial reports in the Belgian media said four people had been killed.

About 60,000 people were believed to be at the event, one of Europe's largest outdoor festivals.

The mayor of the town of Hasselt, where Pukkelpop is held, said 40 people were injured, AP news agency reported.

The TV images showed rain-soaked festival-goers bracing against strong winds. Fallen gantries and rigging could be seen on the ground.

Belgian media reported that trees were uprooted by the violent storm and smashed into the stage, bringing it down.

Some festival-goers said on the Twitter website that a tornado had struck.

The BBC's Matthew Cole, in Brussels, said the storms swept across Belgium in the early evening, turning the sky dark.

Here is some footage of Skunk Anansie at the moment when all hell breaks loose.

The female lead singer of the ban, Skin, stated later that evening on her website that this event was the most horrible experience she ever had during her entire career.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmdikN5e7Tk

My deepest condoleances to all who loved their loved ones there.

(Just due to karma I wasn't able to go to Pukkelpop this year, the festival is one of the most relaxed and unexpensive ones around)

[Jahfin]

Strange how there's been so many of these incidents lately. The upside (if indeed there is one) is that these structures are now coming under much stronger scrutiny.

[alien]

My son was there :

[ledzepfvr]

^^^^^^Good Golly!!!! That's a lot of effing wind and rain!^^^^^^^