A Woman Killed in Scaffolding Collapse at Linkin Park's Concert

One woman lost her life and many other people were injured when scaffolding collapsed Wednesday night outside a Linkin Park concert in Cape Town, South Africa, the BBC and The Associated Press reported. The temporary scaffolding had been erected to hold a billboard for Lucozade, one of the concert’s sponsors, outside the Green Point stadium, where the California band was playing. The billboard toppled over in high winds, falling on a group of concertgoers just before the show. Linkin Park has been at the forefront of a movement to establish national standards in the United States for the construction of temporary stages. The band put a statement on its Web site saying it had “no relationship with the sponsor or the entity responsible for erecting the structure.” The band said it had learned of the death after the performance. “We wish to express our deep sadness and concern for those injured and our heartfelt condolences to the family of the fan who died as a result of her injuries,” the statement said. Kylie Hatton, a spokeswoman for the city of Cape Town, said that of the 19 people who suffered injuries 12 remained hospitalized. She said the police were investigating the accident. Ms. Hatton told News24, a South African news outlet, that the structure had been certified as safe before the event. She said investigators would scrutinize that approval process to see if it had been done properly. GlaxoSmithKline, the parent company of Lucozade, put a statement on Twitter expressing “extreme sadness about the accident last night.” Linkin Park is on a tour of South Africa and is scheduled to play in Johannesburg this weekend. Next week, the band is to return to the United States to play at the American Music Awards.