1 dead, several injured in tent collapse in suburban Chicago

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A man was killed and several other people were injured when a large tent collapsed at a community fair in northwest suburban Wood Dale Sunday afternoon.

The man, whose exact age wasn’t available, was killed when a storm caused the tent to collapse at the Wood Dale Prairie Fest, a four-day festival held at Wood Dale Junior High School.  Wood Dale Fire Protection District crews took “more than a dozen” people to area hospitals, a fire official said.

The collapse happened moments before John Andersen's band was about to perform under the tent.

"I've seen things like this on television but I've never seen anything quite like this in person.  It was pretty bad, it was pretty bad,” said Andersen.  "We were probably about 15 minutes away from starting and we saw there was bad weather to the west.  The stage manager said it looked like something that was going to blow over, everyone just got off stage and it just came up really quick."

Bella Salgado had just stepped off a ride when she took cover near a carnival game.

"We were all huddling and then I turned to look and then a whole tent flew and then the fence flew and then I was really, really afraid," said the girl.  "Everybody who was under the tent most likely got hurt and there were ambulances everywhere."

"Numerous fire departments were called to assist and start the triage process and then all of the injured were removed from the scene to various hospitals," said Mike Rivas, Wood Dale Police Deputy Chief.

The festival, which was supposed to end at 10 pm, was cancelled after the collapse.

Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report