Chicago Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

The personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll were very sad to hear the news of the stage collapse tragedy at the Indiana State Fair over the weekend. Many meteorologists have commented on the cause of the stage collapse, since videos of the incident have captured swirls of dust flying across the stage around the time of the collapse. Some meteorologists have opined that the area was struck by a "gustnado," which is a short burst of wind that can happen in open fields before a thunderstorm. The winds at the Indiana fairgrounds on the night of the incident were estimated around 60-70 mph. Experts are not, however, convinced that the "gustnado" caused the incident. In fact, WBBM's Steve Miller reported that "a Chicago architect says even gusts that high shouldn't have been enough to cause the stage to fall." The same Chicago architect evaluated the photo and video images of the collapse and could not see lateral supports for the stage, with the evidence pointing to improper building and support of the stage as a cause of the incident. Five people were killed in the incident, including a Chicago woman, and more than 40 others were hurt. Structural engineers at Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., are officially investigating the cause of the incident.