‘Worst thing I’ve ever seen.’ Fan plunges to death at Phish concert in California
One fan died and two others were seriously hurt Sunday night in separate falls during a Phish concert in California, officials said.
Ryan Prosser, 47, of Greene County, New York, died after falling from an upper level at Chase Center in San Francisco onto vacant seats below, KNTV reported.
“I think we’re still in shock,” Erika Munsch, who was four rows away, told the station. “It was pretty intense. ... I can’t get the image out of my mind.”
One concert-goer called it “the single worst thing I’ve ever seen” on Reddit, The Mercury News reported.
“One of my friends said, ‘Is it an earthquake?’” concert-goer Richard Langston told KPIX. “And the other guy said, ‘I think someone fell.’”
About an hour after the fatal 8:55 p.m. fall, another fan fell from the upper level and hit someone on the ground floor, The Mercury News reported.
“He clearly missed a step and wasn’t holding onto that handrail and just kept going” over a plastic barrier, concert-goer Jillian Ragia told KPIX.
The two people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police told KNTV.
“We wound up heading home because we saw two people fall,” fan Robert Moen of Austin, Texas, told KTVU. “One obviously worse than the other. But, after seeing that it shook us up and we headed out.”
Evan Reeves told KPIX he was the person hit in the second fall.
“Life and death is seriously a game of inches,” Reeves told the station. He had purchased tickets on an upper level but moved to the ground floor because he didn’t feel safe.
“Well, it was a loud thud, then sharp pain in my left leg and a guy’s head in my lap,” Reeves told KPIX. “I right away dragged myself a few feet away to get some distance so he could be treated.”
He convinced paramedics to let him stay for the band’s second set, then was treated at a hospital for a broken leg, Reeves told the station.
In a statement, Chase Center officials said they were cooperating with a police investigation.
An American rock band known for its improvisation and lengthy jams, Phish formed in 1983 in Vermont. The band has sold more than 8 million albums and DVDs in the United States, according to its site.
Phish performed Saturday and Sunday at Chase Center. The band performed Friday night at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Police ask that anyone with information on the incidents Sunday call 415-575-4444.
This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 10:31 AM with the headline "‘Worst thing I’ve ever seen.’ Fan plunges to death at Phish concert in California."