1 Dead, 2 Injured From Falls At Phish’s San Francisco Concert
One person died and two others were injured in separate falls from upper-level seating during a Phish concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sunday, CBS’ KPIX 5 reports. A spokesperson for the SFPD confirmed that police officers were alerted to someone in need of medical assistance and arrived around 8:55PM, during the band’s first set.
“We felt this thud, it was a remarkable thud,” a witness who attended the concert told KPIX 5. “One of my friends said, ‘Is it an earthquake?’ And the other guy said, ‘’I think someone fell.’ I saw a man’s body shirtless draped over a seat, like that.”
“Medics arrived and immediately provided medical treatment, but despite the efforts of the emergency responders the victim succumbed to his injuries and was declared deceased,” a police spokesperson said. The investigation into the death is still ongoing, but police say there is no evidence of foul play.
Less than an hour later, at 9:45PM, officers and medics responded when a man fell from section 214 of the arena onto another man below. “He clearly missed a step and wasn’t holding onto that handrail and just kept going,” one concertgoer said. Both men were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“He had gone over the clear plastic barrier which was no higher than, I guess, maybe your knees,” the concertgoer continued. “They weren’t really designed for an event where everyone is up and dancing and there’s a whole lot of drug use,” another added. “My buddy was like, ‘I don’t go up there because I’m 6’4″, and I’m scared of falling over the railing.'”
“We are working with the local authorities to determine exactly what happened, and will defer questions about the incident to the San Francisco Police Department,” a spokesperson for the Chase Center said in a statement on Monday. Earlier this summer, a man died while attempting a flip on a balcony during a Dead & Company show at Citi Field in Queens.