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Cape Town – Oppikoppi crew member Carel Hofmann on Friday recounted his experience of events at the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium where a storm killed five people.
Hofmann and two other Oppikoppi crew members, Nicol van den Berg and Theresho Selesho, arrived in Belgium on Wednesday just before the dry run of the festival, to see final preparations and touch-ups.
According to Hoffman, he and Van den Berg were in one of the VIP tents when the storm, that lasted about 10 to 15 minutes, started: "The hail was literally blowing horizontally across the ground… I have never seen such a storm in my life.
"At one stage me and Nicol said to each other, 'it's now time to run like in the old days' and we hid behind a big container."
'A big lesson'
Hofmann told Channel24 that an emergency plan kicked in quickly with dozens of ambulances transporting hundreds of people to hospitals and surrounding community halls, schools and buildings. The roads surrounding the festival were immediately closed off and only let emergency vehicles through.
"It's unbelievable to see how an emergency plan kicked in. We learned a very big lesson, to just see what can happen and how these guys handled it… I think if something like this had to happen in South Africa the damage would have definitely been bigger."
Festival organisers announced on Friday that the festival will not continue due to five deaths and many injured.
The Oppikoppi crew conveyed their sincere condolences "to the five families that lost loved ones and the many young people that are critical in hospitals in and around Hasslte".
Hofmann and two other Oppikoppi crew members, Nicol van den Berg and Theresho Selesho, arrived in Belgium on Wednesday just before the dry run of the festival, to see final preparations and touch-ups.
According to Hoffman, he and Van den Berg were in one of the VIP tents when the storm, that lasted about 10 to 15 minutes, started: "The hail was literally blowing horizontally across the ground… I have never seen such a storm in my life.
"At one stage me and Nicol said to each other, 'it's now time to run like in the old days' and we hid behind a big container."
'A big lesson'
Hofmann told Channel24 that an emergency plan kicked in quickly with dozens of ambulances transporting hundreds of people to hospitals and surrounding community halls, schools and buildings. The roads surrounding the festival were immediately closed off and only let emergency vehicles through.
"It's unbelievable to see how an emergency plan kicked in. We learned a very big lesson, to just see what can happen and how these guys handled it… I think if something like this had to happen in South Africa the damage would have definitely been bigger."
Festival organisers announced on Friday that the festival will not continue due to five deaths and many injured.
The Oppikoppi crew conveyed their sincere condolences "to the five families that lost loved ones and the many young people that are critical in hospitals in and around Hasslte".
