Concrete awning falls on N.C. band students; 25 reported hurt

In this frame from video provided by WSOC, officials stand near a concrete canopy that collapsed Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, in Olin, N.C. A box truck hit one of the canopy supports and the awning then fell on a group of band students.
In this frame from video provided by WSOC, officials stand near a concrete canopy that collapsed Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, in Olin, N.C. A box truck hit one of the canopy supports and the awning then fell on a group of band students.

OLIN, N.C. -- A concrete canopy collapsed Saturday on a group of band students who had gathered outside a North Carolina high school shortly before a competition, leaving 25 people injured, authorities said.

Dr. Howard Bell of Iredell County Emergency Medical Services confirmed the injury total to reporters after the awning collapse outside the entrance to North Iredell High School in Olin, about 55 miles north of Charlotte. At least one student was taken to a Winston-Salem hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries, authorities said without elaborating.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with our students, and we understand that some of the parents may have been injured as well," Iredell-Statesville Schools Superintendent Brady Johnson said.

Iredell-Statesville Schools spokesman Susie Wiberg said the students were standing under the awning as a band competition was about to begin inside the school. Wiberg said a box truck hit one of the canopy supports and the awning then fell, hitting the students underneath it. A driveway leads up to the canopied entrance.

Wiberg said emergency personnel rushed to the school, located in rural Iredell County near a major north-south route, Interstate 77.

Richard Campbell, a band member from South Iredell High School, told WBTV in Charlotte that he witnessed the canopy collapse and aftermath.

"I was standing toward the building and I heard it snap," Campbell said. "And I ran out toward the grass and saw people trapped underneath there."

The band competition was canceled.

A Section on 10/04/2015

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