TORONTO -- One person was killed and at least three others injured Saturday when the stage collapsed before a Radiohead concert in Toronto, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.
The British band was set to perform at Downsview Park, with gates scheduled to open at 5:00pm local time. The collapse was reported about 4:00pm.
Police said a man aged in his 30s died at the scene, CBC reported.
A 45-year-old man was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto with a serious but non-life threatening head injury. Two other men were treated at the scene for minor head injuries.
Radiohead announced on its Twitter page the concert was canceled "due to unforeseen circumstances" at Downsview Park and advised fans not to go to the venue.
Jeff Cole, a hot dog vendor at the site, told CBC that at the time of the collapse between 10 and 15 crew were on the stage, which included large screens and lighting rigs.
"It was like watching in slow motion. The top just came straight down on the right side. The metal was all mangled," Cole said.
Alexandra Mihan was working in a beer tent when she said she heard what sounded like fireworks.
"We turned around, and the entire top of the stage has just collapsed. All of the metalwork and all of the screens had just kind of folded over on top of each other," Mihan said.
The weather at the time of the incident at Downsview Park, a frequent site for large outdoor concerts, was reportedly calm and clear.
A large crowd was waiting outside the venue with 40,000 people expected to attend the sold-out concert, police said.
Saturday's accident was the latest in a string of tragedies at outdoor concerts in recent years across North America.
Last August, five people were killed and 45 injured when a wind gust toppled the main stage at the Indiana State Fair. An investigation concluded that the stage was poorly designed.
Several people were injured when the stage collapsed at the Ottawa Bluesfest last July just moments after a storm forced the band Cheap Trick off the stage.
And a 35-year-old woman was killed in August 2009 at Alberta's Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta, when a windstorm blew down the stage.
