ESTEIO, Brazil – A weekend dance music festival ended in tragedy Dec. 17 when the stage structure collapsed in high winds, killing DJ Kaleb Freitas, 30, and injuring three others, according to early reports. Freitas, who had sustained head trauma, died shortly after arriving at the hospital. The festival, staged Dec. 16 and 17, drew between 4,000 and 5,000 with a lineup including, Dostrescinco, La Triple Nelson, Once Tiros La Trampa, Trotsky Vengaran, Vicios and Vultures.
Freitas was performing on the event’s O Santuário Stage at the festival site, Parque Estadual De Exposições Assis Brasil in Esteio, near Porto Alegre southern Brazil when the stage structure fell.
The festival organizer issued the following statement (translated from Portuguese) on their Facebook page:
“We always cherish the security of our audience, following all the processes, reports and authorisations requested by the local authorities.
“And to our audience we will keep them informed of all our actions to keep the truth about the facts that have occurred.
“Anyway, we’re sorry, we lost a friend, an artist. Our priority is to assist the wounded and their families.
“We thank the military brigade and the fire department for all assistance.”
