BEDFORD PARK, Ill. (September 15, 2023) – After a tent collapsed in Bedford Park, Illinois, 26 people were taken to a nearby hospital, according to Chicago’s WGN News Of those 26 people, 5 remain in serious condition as of Friday morning.
The tent collapse happened during an “employee appreciation event” luncheon in the Cintas parking lot, 5600 W. 73rd St. around 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, September 14. The company has stated “the health and safety of our employee-partners is our number one priority. We are cooperating with local officials to determine the cause of the incident. Cintas will continue to monitor the situation and do everything we can to assist our employee-partners during this time.”
According to police, the cause of the tent collapsing is still unknown, but a witness told ABC7 Chicago that an apparent “freak gust of wind” caused the tent to collapse and saw the tent fly in the air, along with cups, plates, and napkins.
However, the owner of EZ Tent Rentals offered his expertise and stated the collapse “should have never happened” and believes it was compromised due to what they call in the tent industry, “ballast,” meaning it wasn’t weighed down properly. EZ Tent Rentals was not involved in this collapse.
There is no foul play suspected at this time, ABC7 reports.
According to FOX 32, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has opened an investigation into the incident.
“OSHA has six months to complete its investigation, issue citations and proposed monetary penalties, if it finds violations of workplace safety regulations contributed to the incident,” an OSHA spokesperson said.
Several agencies responded to the scene and many neighboring civilians also came to help.
“We are grateful to the first responders who arrived within minutes of the incident and provided assistance,” Cintas said in a statement.
