Two Injured After Beam Falls from Ceiling at Radius Chicago

DJ trio Levity cut their set at Radius Chicago short after a support beam fell from the ceiling, leaving two patrons with minor injuries.

Two Radius Chicago attendees suffered minor injuries after an object fell from the ceiling, forcing Levity to cut their set short early this morning.

An eyewitness who says he was “standing right next to the girl that got hit by the falling beam” spoke with EDM Identity on the condition of anonymity. He said that later in Levity’s set, he and his friends felt “pebbles fall onto us,” but that he “couldn’t tell what it was.”

The eyewitness continued: “Next thing we know, a long wooden beam, maybe at least 10-12 feet long, fell straight from the ceiling and into our group. We witnessed the girl fall straight forward onto the floor, immediately unconscious. My girlfriend ran to grab a medic as we all cleared the area. The security eventually came in, carried her out of the emergency exit of the venue, and they fenced off the area and started cleaning the debris.”

According to the Chicago Police Department, the incident took place just before 1:30am. A 29-year-old man who reported shoulder and neck pain and a 26-year-old woman who suffered a laceration were both taken to Stroger Hospital.

Another attendee shared a video apparently taken after the incident on Facebook, showing what looked like the beam with debris around it on the floor of the venue.

“We’re really sorry we had to cut the set short tonight,” wrote Levity in a statement shared to their Instagram Story. “Something of the venue fell from the roof and the Fire Marshall needed the set to stop early so they could inspect the venue. It was a freak accident, but safety is our first priority, so we’re taking extra caution.

This isn’t the first time a ceiling collapse has injured attendees at an EDM show. In 2014, four were hurt by falling debris at Chicago’s Concord Music Hall at the beginning of a performance by Datsik. More recently, Brennan Heart was forced to skip his set altogether after ceiling tiles fell and injured two patrons at Exchange LA.

Radius Chicago released a statement addressing the incident in its Instagram Story. It shared that the beam was “a non-structural wood ledger,” and admitted that it “struck a few attendees,” two of which were hospitalized. “We are heartbroken and our thoughts are with them as we wish them a speedy recovery,” it read.

“We take this incident extremely seriously and have been in contact with city officials,” the statement went on. “We’ve engaged a structural engineer who determined there are no additional safety concerns at this time. The safety and well-being of our guests is always our top priority, and as such we are implementing additional recommended precautionary measures for tonight’s event.”

This article has been updated to include detailed eyewitness testimony and an official statement from Radius Chicago.