Lawyers representing country duo, Sugarland, have released a statement blaming fans for the Indiana State Fair stage collapse, NME reports. The shocking incident occurred in August last year, four people were killed and many more injured. At the time, witnesses said strong winds came from nowhere and it was reported that the crowd had been told if the storm grew worse the place would be evacuated, minutes later the stage collapsed.
In November last year, 48 of the survivors filed a lawsuit against Sugarland, alleging that the band could have prevented the stage collapse by calling the show off. Sugarland’s lawyers say the high wind speeds were an “act of God”.
According to ABC News, the lawyers also claim that the injuries sustained by the fans had “resulted from their own fault” because they had “failed to exercise due care for their own safety”.
Sugarland have issued a statement in a bid to distance themselves from the case:
Sadly when a tragedy occurs, people want to point fingers and try to sensationalize the disaster. The single most important thing to Sugarland are their fans. Their support and love over the past nine years has been unmatched. For anyone to think otherwise is completely devastating to them.
