© Pino Misuraca, AFP / Getty ImagesA man climbs a ladder beside a tree that fell on a promotions booth during a storm at the Pukkelpop music festival in Kiewit Hasselt on August 18, 2011. A violent storm hit an outdoor rock music festival Thursday in northern Belgium, leaving at least two person dead and 40 others seriously injured, firefighters said. Two stages collapsed, one falling on the concert-goers. Some giant screens also fell down and trees were uprooted by the fierce storm, the Belga news agency reported.
Ten more were seriously injured with three in critical condition, police said, as two stages collapsed, trees were uprooted and hailstones "the size of golf balls" rained down on petrified youths, witnesses said.
Organizers, who had drawn capacity crowds of 65,000 fans for each of the three days the event was due to run, called a halt to planned performances by global names such as Eminem and the Foo Fighters.
The storm "cost the lives of five people," Claes told a press conference, adding that all five victims were Belgian citizens and that in total 140 people had received medical treatment.
She said initial checks on emergency planning measures, which staff told AFP included "checking trees for their resistance to high winds, and testing the drainage system," left officials confident they had done everything that could be expected of them given such freak conditions.
Youngsters among the thousands of muddy-legged, sorrow-stained figures traipsing away from the campsite after sleepless nights late on Friday morning said no blame could be attached to the authorities.
Tens of thousands of people were attending the outdoor Pukkelpop festival when the storm broke Thursday, toppling one stage on concert-goers at the annual event - already marked by tragedy in recent years.
