One week before Coachella 2019 begins, a worker constructing a stage at the Indio, California festival site fell to their death.
The Indio Police Department confirmed the accident to the Desert Sun, adding that the still-unnamed worker in the staging area of the festival grounds fell and died at the scene. Indio police are investigating the incident.
The Riverside County Fire Department tweeted soon after the accident that someone suffered a “traumatic injury” after they “fell from a roof and perished at the scene.”
Traumatic Injury: RPT @ 9:26 a.m. – Monroe St. X Ave 50 in Indio. Victim fell from a roof and perished at the scene. Indio PD investigating. BC, 1 ENG, 1 TRK, 1 INDIO MEDIC UNIT. #MonroeINCIDENT
— CAL FIRE Riverside (@CALFIRERRU) April 6, 2019
TMZ reported that eyewitnesses saw the worker, a man who was climbing the stage scaffolding, fall approximately 60 feet, and that a safety harness was not attached at the time of the accident; it’s unclear whether the worker was wearing a safety harness when the incident occurred.
Coachella organizers Goldenvoice did not respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment at press time. The festival has not addressed the accident on social media.