Circus tent collapses in New Hampshire, killing 2
LANCASTER, N.H. -- Two people are dead and 22 are injured after a circus tent collapsed in Lancaster, New Hampshire Monday night, CBS Boston reported.
State Fire Marshal William Degnan said late Monday night that the injured were taken to four regional hospitals.
Authorities say the tent collapsed when a severe storm raked a New Hampshire fairground.
Several media outlets reported the fatalities and a spokesman at a Lancaster hospital confirmed the facility had received 22 patients.
The accident happened Monday evening at the Lancaster fairgrounds, about 90 miles north of the state capital in Concord. Walker International Events was scheduled to do two shows Monday before moving on to Vermont on Tuesday. The company did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday night.
About 250 people were inside the circus tent when it collapsed as a strong storm moved through the state, causing some injuries. Officials say about 100 people were trapped under the tent, but they were soon freed.
It happened Monday evening at the Lancaster fairgrounds, about 90 miles north of the state capital in Concord.
A Lancaster police dispatcher says the tent collapsed during a circus performance.
Gov. Maggie Hassan says state officials are monitoring the situation.
The National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the area during the time of the collapse.
The collapse comes a day after one man died and more than a dozen were injured when a tent where people had sought shelter during a brief storm blew off its moorings and fell on some of the crowd at a festival in a Chicago suburb. The annual celebration known as the Prairie Fest had attracted about 5,000 people when the tent collapsed.
The popular Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago's Grant Park briefly shut down Sunday afternoon due to the weather, then resumed less than an hour later. Organizers ended the final day of the festival 30 minutes early Sunday night when another storm hit the area.