A high school concert in Indiana took a turn for the worse last night as a main stage holding several students for a grand finale collapsed.
In the video below taken by Sara Camden, student performers at Westfield High School in Indianapolis gathered on the stage during a closing rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” The stage quickly buckled under the weight and took the students tumbling down to the orchestra pit.
The Indianapolis Star reports that dozens were injured, but Camden tweeted out that none of the injuries were serious or life-threatening. Students were treated at nearby hospitals.
“Some parents rushed the stage area,” Mandi McKinley Brown, who was in the auditorium when the stage collapsed, tells the Star. “Most of us stayed in our seats to stay out of the way. People were lifting large pieces of the stage out of the pit from on top of the kids.”
The incident happened around 10:30 p.m., during the student concert’s final number, and the sold-out event appears to have drawn around a thousand people. The Star reports that classes are in session this morning. “We want today to be as normal as possible,” Westfield Schools Superintendent Mark Keen says this morning in a press conference. “They can talk it through in first-period class.”
Watch the video below.
So relieved there were no serious injuries, but what a scary ending! #WHSAmericanPie #Westfield pic.twitter.com/VMsRlBZLDT
— Sara Camden (@saracamden) April 24, 2015
Camden also tweeted out last night that if the stage collapsing video was going to get attention, she wanted to shine light on some of the other performances in the American Pie-themed program, which included songs from DEVO, Tracy Chapman, Ozzy Osbourne, and Toto.
And they look pretty impressive, so you can watch those below, as well…
Maybe silver lining is people discover #WHSAmericanPie – such a cool concept: music + history
— Sara Camden (@saracamden) April 24, 2015
Well, we've seen the lowlights, but there were oh so many highlights! How adorable are these guys?? #WHSAmericanPie pic.twitter.com/yMRVpOojJt
— Sara Camden (@saracamden) April 24, 2015
This was such a beautiful performance by Charrelle Bako #WHSAmericanPie pic.twitter.com/lVGYluRvto
— Sara Camden (@saracamden) April 24, 2015
More positive vibes: how about Rhonda Adams, @afroguitarman & @dustydrums #ozzy #WHSAmericanPie pic.twitter.com/yU306moJab
— Sara Camden (@saracamden) April 24, 2015
Favorite song of the night: @afroguitarman graduation present #Africa https://t.co/5CSi0pAiBE #WHSAmericanPie
— Sara Camden (@saracamden) April 24, 2015
THAT is what 1000 people look like.
As Saul Goodman would say
It's Showtime!!!!!!!
@WHSAmericanPie pic.twitter.com/SUEhk5H40g
— Dusty Troutman (@dustydrums) April 23, 2015