In the wake of all the mayhem at Cape Town Stadium last night, a women has been killed… I had my article up about the scaffolding that collapsed in the gale force winds, after seeing a Tweet from local radio DJ and Blogger @StephanieBe. I then phoned a few people on the scene and spoke to the ER24 to get the full story, which you can see [here]. So many people were trying to get the scoop and find out if loved ones were okay, my site ended up crashing!
After a Tweet from the local radio station involved in the concert, 5FM said: “The CT wind got the better of some scaffolding but no1 has been severely injured. Those affected have been attended to. Show goes on”. After seeing news late last night that a female had been killed after suffering sever injuries, that all seems a bit nonchalant if you ask me! The women is yet to be identified by authorities, and my thoughts go out to her family, friends and loved ones. 20 others were injured in the tower crash and I seriously hope something is done about this. Who was responsible for the erection of those advertising towers?
What has really angered me though, is that many people are Tweeting me telling me the structure passed “safety regulations”, and, “they didn’t expect gale force winds!” Brands are so quick to announce all these massive International bands and performers, yet they are too busy worrying about the ticket sales and money they are going to make to check the weather report? Anyone who lives in Cape Town and “doesn’t expect gale force winds,” which clocked up to 50 km/h yesterday in the City Bowl, clearly has no clue!
I would love to know your thoughts about the incident and must just give a big up to all the paramedics who helped out and ensured the tragedy didn’t claim more lives! If this was your family would you take action, do you think the party responsible for erecting the tower should be sued? Please leave your thoughts below. Once again condolences to the family who lost their loved one and all the others that were injured in the tragedy.
I think the fact stands, that it is 2012 and we have weather reports, and it was windy. I walked past 10 minutes before it fell and thought to myself “flip that is tall surely it will blow over” . Weather they predicted winds or not, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it’s now super windy those scaffolding are not tied down lets break down the rig. They clearly took a chance knowing well its windy and it has resulted in a loss of life of one of our own. Anyone has common sense, so I blame everyone that was involved in the concert including you ALL because any of u could have cleared that area when those winds got hectic just in case. Obama new a storm was coming a week in advance, u couldn’t tell we would have gale force winds at 6pm,?? When there already was. No excuses, clearly your minds were not on our safety.
Scaffolding, if erected properly, will not falter in gale force winds. OHS Act & SANS 10085 standards need to be adhered to, and also signed off by a qualified safety officer! That only covers the naked scaffolding!
If non-regulation adverts/banners/etc are affixed to it, it needs to be supported (wider base at the bottom, cables attached to struts in the ground, etc). That’s just common sense, if you add a wind-brake to a tower, support the damn tower… Somebody is definitely at fault here & THIS CAN NOT JUST BE CONSIDERED AN ACCIDENT!!!
It is not a matter of checking the weather, its a matter of endangering 50’000 plus lives through negligence!
When I worked the big festivals in the UK, Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, V… We hated safety officers! But there is a reason why each rule/law has come about. To save lives & most importantly from a business perspective (gough, cough, BigConcerts, 5FM, Computicket), to limit liability!
Agreed, they should have been a safety officer to sign off the structure. Im not too familiar with the OHS Act in terms of structures as Im just in the Electrical game but like you said, theres a reason we have safety officers and as much as contractors hate them, there are there to ensure the safety of the workers and others.
Personally I think tho it is a tragedy (and truly it is of such great proportions) we should not go on a finger pointing tirade. It did pass the standards set even for cape town weather and sometimes, as horrific as it seems, bad things happen. To start a man hunt just brings more negativity to the awful situation. There is no need to be out for more blood. I’m sure that the ppl that cleared it will have this on their conscience forever. Why, when there’s already so much bad do we have to start this. 50km wind is bloody strong. Its not like it collapsed in a breeze. Its absolutely awful that this happen and medical bills should definitely be taken care of but further that that its just making a nasty situation even more ugly.
Thanks Janet, although it was gale force winds from the afternoon… Things as simple as this should be looked at. You and I have experienced winds like this at Nekkies trance parties and they TAKE DOWN the shade nets in case of things like this. Either way, thanks for your input, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and views!
Perfectly said Dylan, people don’t give a shit about anybody else these days as long as they get a quick buck… What happened to people doing the things they love being the most rewarding… Sucks!! and my heart goes out to that girls family 🙁
I think that’s a little harsh. You can try to prevent accidents from happening but when its an accident you can’t really stop it. I am pretty sure no one went out of their way to be negligent or cause harm to anyone else. I feel for her and her family but what about all the others that are dying of serious causes other than ‘wrong place, wrong time’
I definitely think the party responsible for erecting the tower needs to be sued. The fact that they ‘didn’t expect gale force winds’, in Cape Town of all places, is astonishing! Responsibility is a really big deal and needs to be addressed appropriately. Condolences to friends and family.
I think the Muppets that put the scaffolding up need to check there work and the weather report .
Cape town has 4 seasons in one day .
The safety personal needs to check this work and surely there was more than enough time to have a look at the scaffolding before the incident happen .
The wind was pumping like crazy way before the incident happened .
Lets hope the life of a poor fan makes people wake up .
How I understand the chain of blame for this:
Linkin Park said its not their fault, it lies with the organiser.
Big Concerts said they simply sell space to advertisers at the event
Lucozade said they didn’t erect the scaffold and paid a company to do it.
The company said they didn’t know what the scaffold could do, but the engineer had certified it clear.
The engineer said he was following manufacturers guidelines
The Manufacturer said they only publish guidelines and don’t test for 50km/h winds.
The wind said it was there first.
So, I blame everyone from Big Concerts to the Engineer. Own up and say sorry like you fucking mean it.
I would absolutely sue the people responsible for doing the safety check of that advertisement. As you said, it is unacceptable for anyone working in Cape Town to not be aware (and make themselves aware) of the wind factor. I am completely shocked by this tragedy as it could easily have been me or someone I know. Disgusted that Lucozade have not released a statement, it makes it all the more shocking. Condolences to the families of all the injured people, and especially the family who have suffered the loss of the woman. It is horrific that this accident had to occur in order to shake up the organisational team to pay attention to safety. All the money they made can’t buy back a reputation.
Firstly its sad that this occurred, a life was lost and many were injured. In construction the number 1 priority is safety and I’m sure it was the case with the company involved for erecting the structure. Also a structural engineer cannot certify if the scaffold is safe, that’s the job of the scaffold engineer or the person in charge of putting it up. To add to that, they can only say if the structure is safe to use as is, they cannot predict what will happen if a sail is tied to it. There’s a lot of factors to take into account, yes CT has a mean wind but nature is unpredictable. Whether or not they did high speed wind tests with the structure and sail is another question, at the end of day it might just go down as a freak accident but I’m sure the family of the deceased and victims will follow up with the various parties for some sort of compensation.
How sad to lose one life due to negligence. She was so young. Condolenses to her family.
Having worked at major concerts in London, I drove passed that exact structure yesterday thinking to myself, that does not look safe. We need to stop acting like a 3rd world country when it comes to things like this, It’s something that could have been prevented! This is pure negligence. I hope the family sues Big Concerts and win!
Thanks for that! Agree fully…
It was totally IRRESPONSIBLE by lucozade to have that stupid scaffolding there .. surely if they’re Cape Town based they would know the power of our South Easter …
it seems that their structural engineers need to be investigated… this death could have been averted… This has possibly got to be the worst type of advertising
ever for lucozade as the direct mention that it was their scaffolding is doing the rounds on ALL SOCIAL MEDIA … don’t forget the DIRECT mention in Linkin Park Fan-
page with their 46 MILLION FANS …
For those that call it a freak accident – RUBBISH … look at how much effort New York went for Hurricane Sandy – which killed a whopping 84 people – and the emphasis
was placed on the 96 BILLION dollar damage to the physical properties , infrastructure – like that is more important than loss of life.
I Will Never dink a fuckin lucozade in my life again.idiots
Condoleances to the family! I am a family friend! They are devastated! Such a tragedy! These things should not happen!
Sorry to hear… It’s appalling how everyone just tries to push it under the carpet and play it down on radio, especially 5FM!
I think the company that was elected to put the scaffolding up are the ones to blame, as they where paid to erect a safe and secure advertising structure. if locuzade or big concerts where using their own people to put up the advertising scaffolding, then they can be blamed directly, but if they hgave the job to another company it becomes that company’s responsiblty to ensure the secure and safety of their product/service
Fault is with the engineer who OK’d it!
Its their job to check and ensure safety. THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE THERE FOR! They study long and hard to check that construction of certain structures comply and exceed the manufacturers standards. The manufacturer cannot be held responsible for how their product is used outside their control hence engineers to check that safety regulations are met. They DO know what the effect on wind is on a covered scaffolding – if they say they don’t they are either incompetent or lying. Given the facts I have available I say the courts will agree with me when I say that Gross Negligence would play the main part in this saga ending in culpable homicide!
ok wow, this is HORRIBLE yes, i actually heard this thing fall over, we went past it not too long before, this was a Freak accident, some ppl couldnt even close the doors of the toilets due to this crazy sudden wind that came and gone. whats it gonna help to blame someone? im horrified by this tragic story yes but trying to find blame is not going to bring her back. that thing did not move an inch when i walked passed it 15-20min before…. no one knew that thing was going to fall over.
It’s the engineers job to take all factors into account…
I was at the concert and actually witnessed it collapse. I am also a civil engineer and from what I observed there were a few design issues that may have been overlooked:
Scaffolding is fine by itself against wind loads because of very little surface area of the poles. However, the Lucozade banners that were joined to the scafolding increased the surface area, acting as a sail, caught the wind and contributed it to falling over.
Another aspect may have been the dimensions of the scaffolding. It was higher than a lightpole but not very wide therefore it had a higher chance of toppling over.
Scaffolding is usally tied into a sturdy structure but the scaffolding seemed to be free standing.
The real question for me is whether the engineer who designed the scaffolding designed it as scaffolding and had no knowledge of how Lucozade set it up or maybe the engineer overlooked the fact.
I do agree though that the gale force winds should have been accounted for. Normal scaffolding probably would not have collpased in gale force winds.
However, how was it designed and under what assumptions? A quick audit of the engineer’s design assumptions and the terms of reference should establish where and with who the fault lies.
Thanks Vinesh!
Friend of mine is one of the victims, he is going in for a major operation tomorrow because of his injuries…broken right ankle,broken right leg, fractured left leg, 3 broken ribs 3 broken bones in his back and a broken pelvis!
It could have been even worse! Just glad he is alive…pray that he will make it through all the treatment and healing going forward so that he can walk again.