1 dead, 2 injured as fans fall from stands during Phish concert in San Francisco
San Francisco CA October 20 2021 – One person died and two others were injured in separate falls from upper-level seating during a concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sunday night featuring the band Phish.
A San Francisco police spokesperson confirmed to KPIX 5 on Monday that police were alerted to a person in need of medical assistance around 8:55 p.m. When officers arrived, they found a man who was suffering from injuries caused by a possible fall.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
Police said there was no evidence of foul play. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was called to the scene and the investigation into the death is ongoing. Officials have not released the man’s name.
There were reports on Reddit from people saying they had seen the person who fell from the upper level land on his head with enough force to break the seat he struck. They also described staff trying to quickly clean up blood from the victim’s injuries as police proceeded to question concert attendees about the incident.
Another Reddit poster said that the first person landed just a couple of rows behind him.
“It’s so lucky that nobody besides him was hurt,” the post read. “The sound and scene were incredible and horrifying.”
A witness told KPIX 5 that the man fell into seats in Section 116 at the arena. The fall happened during the first set of the band’s two-set performance, according to reports.
“We felt this thud, it was a remarkable thud,” said Richard Langston, who attended the concert. “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,” Langston went on to say.
Less than an hour later, at about 9:45 p.m., officers and medics responded to another fall at the arena. In that incident, an adult male fell from section 214 onto another man below.
Both were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
“He clearly missed a step and wasn’t holding onto that handrail and just kept going,” said Jillian Ragia, who also attended Sunday’s concert.
According to officers, there were no signs of any criminal violation associated with the incident.
Concertgoers who spoke to KPIX 5 questioned whether railings in place are tall enough to keep someone from falling.
“They weren’t really designed for an event where everyone is up and dancing and there’s a whole lot of drug use,” said Langston. “My buddy was like, ‘I don’t go up there because I’m 6’4″, and I’m scared of falling over the railing.'”
In a statement released on Monday, a Chase Center spokesperson said the venue was working with the authorities to determine what happened and would “defer questions about the incident to the San Francisco Police Department.”
