NOTE: This article has been edited from a previous version.

One man is in life-threatening condition after a stage collapsed at the Ottawa Bluesfest Sunday night during a severe thunderstorm.

A 46-year-old man was taken to hospital after a piece of the stage pierced his stomach, according to Ottawa paramedics. The man also had a fractured leg and pelvis.

Two other people were also taken to hospital with minor injuries, Ottawa paramedics said.

The stage fell around 7:30 p.m.

Linda Laframboise was watching the band when she noticed the sky was turning dark.

She said the front speakers suddenly went off and the band stopped playing. They pointed to the speakers and then left the stage, she said.

Laframboise, who was standing about 20 feet away from the stage, heard it cracking and groaning.

“The stage at the top just started to lean back and fall back,” she said. “Then it went all the way down.”

Laframboise said panic broke out. She estimates there could have been 15,000 to 20,000 people in the crowd.

Emergency crews arrived within five minutes, she said.

The storm sent crowds to the nearby Canada War Museum for shelter.

Jude Murano, who had a backstage pass, was standing on the side of the stage while Cheap Trick was playing.

She noticed the crew was hastily taking equipment off the stage. Then the wind started picking up, blowing the tarp around. “Then they said ‘Quick, get off stage.”

Everyone ran off as the scaffolding started to fall, she said.

“The wind was so intense,” Murano said. “What was scariest was how hard the storm hit. When I was running, I couldn’t see. It was in my eyes too much.

“It was the scariest situation of my life.”

Laframboise said she can’t imagine what would have happened if the stage swung the other way toward the crowd.

“No one could have predicted this,” she said.

Video of the Bluesfest site posted on YouTube showed a crumpled stage — with twisted metal jutting out — collapsed over electronic equipment.

"Everyone is okay and we are so lucky to be alive and hope that all the fans are okay too," Cheap Trick said in a message posted on Facebook.

Witnesses said the rain didn’t start falling until after the stage collapsed.

Environment Canada had a thunderstorm warning in effect for Ottawa, saying winds were expected to reach 90 kilometres per hour.

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Bluesfest issued a statement saying that “due to extreme weather conditions, we have regrettably had to shut down all stages for the night.”

Bluesfest, started in 1994 has grown from a one-stage, three-day event to a multi-staged, 12-day music showcase featuring some of the best international talent.

WITH FILES FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS

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