INDIANAPOLIS — The summer evening at the Indiana State Fair turned strangely cold. The wind blew hard, then harder still, tearing the fabric from the roof of the wobbling grandstand stage.
The crowd, waiting under a thunderous sky for the country duo Sugarland to perform Saturday, had been told over the loudspeakers that severe weather was possible. They were told where to seek shelter if an evacuation was necessary, but none was ordered. The show, it seemed, was to go on.
None of the calls that workers had made to the National Weather Service prepared them for the 60 to 70 mph gust that blew a cloud of dirt, dust and rain down the fairground’s main thoroughfare. The rigging and lighting system covering the stage tilted forward, then plummeted onto the front of the crowd.
Five people died, four of them at the scene. Dozens ran forward to help the injured while others ran for shelter, fearing that the devastation had only begun. Dozens of people remained hospitalized Sunday, some with life-threatening injuries.
“Women were crying. Children were crying. Men were crying,” said fairgoer Mike Zent.
The fair canceled all activities Sunday as officials began the long process of determining what happened and fielded difficult questions about whether the tragedy could have been prevented.
“We’re all very much in mourning,” said Cindy Hoye, the fair’s executive director, at a news conference Sunday. “It’s a very sad day at the state fair.”
Gov. Mitch Daniels called the accident an “unthinkable tragedy” and said the wind burst was a “fluke” that no one could have foreseen.
Fair officials said the Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration and state fire marshal’s office were investigating. First Sgt. Dave Bursten of the Indiana State Police said the investigation could take months.
