Ready Illinois The scene at the Apollo Theater.
A video from inside the Apollo theater in Belvidere, Illinois, has captured efforts to rescue victims of a roof collapse after a tornado.
Be forewarned that the video is disturbing because it shows rescue workers trying to find victims in the rubble.
Chief Shawn Schadle from the Belvidere Fire Department said in a news conference that officials were called for a roof collapse and arrived in two minutes. There was a roof collapse “inside the building. There was a show going on that night” with over 200 people present in the building, he said.
Bystanders and first responders helped people and prevented worse tragedy, Schadle said. There was one person who was confirmed deceased, two people had life-threatening severe injuries, two more had severe injuries, 18 people suffered moderate injuries, and five people had minor injuries, according to Schadle. Ambulances had to make “multiple trips,” Schadle said.
The deceased victim was identified as Frederick Livingston Jr., according to Fox 32 Chicago.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Video Shows Rescue Workers Trying to Lift Rubble Inside the Apollo Theater
Roof collapses during concert by Morbid Angel at the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, Illinois.
There are reports of multiple victims
#morbidangel #apollotheatre #belvidere #illinois #tornado #storm #weather #breakingnews
The video shows a rescue worker saying, “Stay with me, okay? I am not leaving you,” as screams and loud talking occur throughout the theater. One man says in the video that he hoped a person was not under the stage.
The video shows people trying to lift up rubble, which filled the building.
Ready Illinois shared photos of the damage to the Apollo Theater and wrote, “IEMA Dir. Alicia Tate-Nadeau toured tornado damage in #BelvidereIL today at the @ApolloTheater and Parkside Manor. She sends condolences to the loved ones of the one person who died, those still hospitalized, others with minor injuries ….plus those with property damage. #ILWX”
A Woman Said, ‘It Went Like From Zero to a Thousand Within 5 Seconds’
IEMA Dir. Alicia Tate-Nadeau toured tornado damage in #BelvidereIL today at the @ApolloTheater and Parkside Manor. She sends condolences to the loved ones of the one person who died, those still hospitalized, others with minor injuries ….plus those with property damage. #ILWX
Gabrielle Lewellyn told My Stateline that she had just entered the theater when the roof collapsed..
“I was there within a minute before it came down,” she told WTVO-TV. “The winds, when I was walking up to the building, it went like from zero to a thousand within five seconds.”
Lewellyn told the news site that people immediately leapt into action.
“They dragged someone out from the rubble and I sat with him and I held his hand and I was (telling him) ‘It’s going to be OK.’ I didn’t really know much else what to do,” she told the news site.
Schadle said there are no longer any reports of any victims being missing from the roof collapse. The theater has been condemned because of the storm, he said. He said the department’s thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims.
Patients suffered blunt trauma, including head and neurological trauma, Medical Director Matt Smetana said in the news conference. He said there were also orthopedic and extremity injuries, as well as soft tissue injuries. More than 40 patients were treated at local hospitals, Smetana said in the news conference. He said some patients have been treated and released.
He said the first responders had a “very impressive response” and that this limited the number of injuries.
Mayor Clinton Morris called it a “significant event” in the news conference.