Indianapolis Stage Collapse Was No "Fluke"

In case you didn't hear- or read the posts here at CSW- a stage at a concert on the Indiana State fairgrounds collapsed Saturday night during a severe thunderstorm- killing at least 5 people and injuring more than 4 dozen others.

In statements on Sunday- the governor of Indiana- Mitch Daniels called the disaster "a fluke."

The collapse wasn't a fluke by ANY stretch of the imagination- "a fluke" would have been something like the stage collapsing on a calm- sunny day- which it did not.

The only "fluke" in Indianapolis was that more people were not killed or injured.

It's going to be determined that the stage was not constructed properly- either somebody forgot to install proper safely measures into the massive stage roof/overhead lighting rigging or somebody along the line decided to cut costs and eliminate those safety measures.

It's going to be determined that when the National Weather Service issues a severe storm warning for an area where an outdoor function is being attended by thousands of people- that warning MUST be taken in the utmost seriousness by those given the responsibility of crowd safety.

Also- I hope every individual realizes that the responsibility of their own personal safety is theirs alone: you cannot and must not wait for someone ELSE to tell you if your safety is in jeopardy or be totally complacent and trusting that someone else is doing their job correctly.

Especially if there is money involved.

I'm sure that in hindsight- the promoters of the concert in Indianapolis wished they had delayed or cancelled the show and given the attendees rain checks or refunds- rather than be faced with the barrage of far more expensive lawsuits that's likely to result from this tragic incident.