Pukkelpop Festival - Pukkelpop: Death Toll Rises To Five

Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium has been cancelled following the collapse of three stages with resulted in 5 confirmed deaths. According to Billboard, a fierce storm had hit the area of Kiewit, where the festival was staged, on Thursday at approx 6.30pm. The huge rain and hailstorm damaged 3 stages and uprooted trees. Festival organizer Chokri Mahassin said that there had been no prediction of the storm in weather reports, and said it was the worst he had seen: "I have seen many tropical storms," Mahassine said, "but this was unprecedented."

The BBC reported that the Mayor of Hasselt, the nearest town, said in a statement: "During the night, the fifth festival-goer died in hospital. I think that the organisation of Pukkelpop rightly took the courageous decision to stop the festival." All those who have died are Belgians, and there have been 140 injuries, 10 of them serious. 60,000 were attending the event, which was to be headlined by Foo Fighters, Ting Tings and Eminem.

This was the second year of tragedy for Pukklepop, as last year the singer of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, CHARLES HADDON, committed suicide at the event.