4 Injured in Tent Collapse at Arts Festival Oklahoma

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A tent collapsed during the final day of Arts Festival Oklahoma injuring four people.

Paramedics and firefighters were dispatched around 3 p.m. Monday to the annual festival located on the campus of Oklahoma City Community College, 7777 S. May Avenue.

About 20 children were watching a magic show under the tent when a large stake holding the tarp came loose and the tent collapsed. None of the children were injured, but three adults eating inside the same tent were injured.

Four people, three adults and one child, were taken to an area hospital and are listed in good condition, an EMSA spokesperson said. A few others suffered scratches and bruises from the incident, but no one was seriously injured.

Gusting winds may have contributed to the tent collapse. The NEWS 9 Weather Department reported winds up to 40 miles per hour in Oklahoma City Monday afternoon.

"All day long it's been picking up, and finally a very large gust came through and I grabbed my tent. And I looked over at this tent ‘cause I heard a rope snap and I saw the rope came up, a 2 by 4 came up out of the ground, lifted the entire tent. The wind got up underneath it and collapsed it on all those people that were in there," said artist John Chumack. "So there was about 12 of us guys, several of the other artists that were standing around, immediately as soon as we saw it, we ran in and lifted the tent to get the people out."

Chumack said he's seen artist's tents collapse in the past because of winds, but he's never seen anything like this at the festival.

Organizers shut down Arts Festival Oklahoma an hour early because of the incident.