St. Louis tent collapse raises safety questions

Sam Dotson, a spokesman for Mayor Francis Slay, said it's unclear if adequate regulations were in place and being followed Saturday or if the disaster was simply the result of people not paying attention to severe weather warnings.

"This tent was inspected, but we need to make sure there weren't modifications to it," he said.

The fast-moving storm ripped a large beer tent at Kilroy's Sports Bar from its moorings and sent it and debris hurtling through the air about 80 minutes after the end of a St. Louis Cardinals game. Seventeen people in the tent were taken to hospitals and up to 100 of the 200 gathered were treated at the scene, which was near Busch Stadium.

St. Louis police spokeswoman Schron Jackson on Sunday identified the victim as 58-year-old Alfred Goodman of Waterloo, Ill., but she didn't provide a cause of death. Dotson said a medical examiner will do an autopsy Monday and a preliminary cause of death likely would be released sometime during the day.

Dotson declined to identify any of the injured, saying only that they were taken to various local hospitals. Officials initially said five people had been transported in critical condition, but later announced all had been upgraded to serious.

Questions about the tent's safety — especially in dangerous weather — remain unanswered.

Building Commissioner Frank Oswald said Kilroy's was granted a tent permit on April 11 and it passed inspection a couple days later. He said the city of St. Louis requires tents to be able to withstand winds up to 90 mph.

Dotson said Sunday that the wind gust that destroyed the tent — shattering the aluminum poles and blowing the structure onto nearby railroad tracks — was measured at over 70 mph.

"I don't know if the storms have gotten worse or if we've just become more sensitive after Joplin and the storms in the South," he said, referring to tornadoes that killed hundreds last year. "We've had severe weather downtown by the ballpark before. People need to be aware of their surroundings and have a plan. If there are storms or watches, what are you going to do?"