WESTFIELD, IN — As students involved in an April 23 high school musical production joined each other near the end of the production, the auditorium stage gave way, injuring 17. Although one of the injured students who required hospital treatment had initially been listed as critical, school officials reported on April 24 that none of the injuries were life-threatening and most were “minor.” Local news reports also noted that a few of the students who had been treated at hospitals were released within hours. Indiana’s OSHA is investigating.
The part of the stage that collapsed near the finale of the student-run musical, American Pie, appeared to be a section of removable flooring over an orchestra pit. School officials were working with local police and others to determine what went wrong.
The stage was built along with the rest of the school in 1997, according to school records. Westfield schools superintendent Mark Keen noted in local reports that further work on the stage was done in recent years. Investigators will be focusing on both the original design and update as they try to pinpoint the cause.
