TORONTO // A concert by the British rock band Radiohead was cancelled after the roof of an outdoor stage collapsed during sound checks and rehearsals, killing one and injuring three others, police and fire officials said.
The band were not on stage at the time, police said, and members of the group were not believed to have been involved in the accident, which occurred at about 4pm local time at Downsview Park, about 5 miles north of downtown Toronto.
A Canadian musician named Dan Snaith, who performs under the name Caribou, had been set to open for Radiohead on Saturday, according to his website, but there was no word on whether he was near the stage when the mishap occurred.
Representatives for the concert's promotion company, Live Nation, were not immediately available for comment. Downsview Park officials had no comment on the incident except to confirm that the Radiohead concert had been cancelled as a result.
Toronto police spokesman Sergeant Tim Burrows told Reuters that about 20 people were in the direct vicinity of the stage, conducting rehearsals and sound checks, when it gave way.
A police statement issued on Twitter said one man in his 30s was pronounced dead at the scene and a 45-year-old man was taken to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening head injury. It said two other males were treated on the scene for less serious injuries.
Burrows said investigators were still unsure what caused the mishap, which was under investigation by the Ontario Ministry of Labour and the Toronto police.
"The roof part of the stage collapsed," said Captain Mike Strapko, the Toronto Fire Services spokesman.
"It's like an arch made out of round piping similar to what they use for scaffolding," he said, adding that the structure was rigged with lighting and other equipment. "So that's what came down and did crush the one individual."
Pictures of the scene posted on social media sites showed a large section of twisted metal scaffolding over and around the stage that had collapsed in the middle of the concert platform.
Radiohead, an alternative rock group led by singer Thom Yorke, is on an international tour this summer.
