Radiohead drum tech was collapse victim

TORONTO – Investigators combed through the wreckage of a Toronto stage Sunday to determine what caused the structure to come crashing down ahead of a Radiohead concert, killing the band’s drum technician and injuring three other crew members.

The British band said it was devastated over the death of Scott Johnson, a U.K. citizen in his 30s who was trapped under the rubble and pronounced dead at the scene.

“We have all been shattered by the loss of Scott Johnson, our friend and colleague. He was a lovely man, always positive, supportive and funny; a highly skilled and valued member of our great road crew,” the band said on its website.

Toronto police spokesman Tony Vella said a 45-year-old man hospitalized with a head injury was improving and his life was not in danger. The other two crew members were treated at the scene.

Officials from the Ontario Ministry of Labor searched through the wreckage for clues to the cause of the collapse Saturday in Downsview Park.

Live Nation, the company that organized the concert, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Sunday.

Police said the park wasn’t full when the collapse occurred at about 4 p.m. but there was a considerable crowd already waiting for the show amid sunny skies.

Mike Kensey, 26, said he arrived at the venue hours early to get a spot close the stage and see the opening act by Canadian band Caribou.

“It was like fireworks went off and then boom, the stage just crumbled to the ground in a matter of seconds,” he said. “I had never really seen anything like it.”