Four workers sustained minor injuries at the Schottenstein Center after part of the stage collapsed following Luke Bryan’s concert Jan. 16. Credit: Ritika Shah / Asst. photo editor

Four workers sustained minor injuries at the Schottenstein Center after part of the stage collapsed following Luke Bryan’s concert Jan. 16.
Credit: Ritika Shah / Asst. photo editor

Four workers sustained minor injuries at the Schottenstein Center after part of the stage collapsed following Luke Bryan’s concert Thursday.

Ohio State spokesman Gary Lewis confirmed the incident and said there is an ongoing investigation.

“We are confirming that an incident occurred which caused some damage to a stage at the Schottenstein Center,” Lewis said in an email. “We are in the process of conducting an investigation. This was an isolated occurrence and all upcoming events, including Saturday’s ‘Winter Jam’ concert, proceeded as scheduled.”

According to a Schottenstein Center employee, who wished to remain anonymous because of his employment, the incident occurred when a forklift carrying large video equipment hit the stage and caused multiple boards to collapse. From there, a domino effect took place as employees fell into the stage and sound equipment fell on those employees.

Four total employees, three of whom are employed at the Schottenstein Center and one of whom is employed by Live Nation, who was with Luke Bryan’s camp, were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, but all were released by Saturday.

The situation, the Schottenstein employee said, was an accident that occurred in a small space while the employees were tearing down Bryan’s setup.

“It was just a tight space,” the employee said. “It seemed like a really minor slip.”

The employee also said all equipment was being operated properly and all safety measures were intact.

“We had the policy in place where everyone in the bowl at the time had hard hats on,” the employee said. “There was a lot of mitigated risk there.”

Workers were sent home after the accident occurred, and the cleanup resumed the following day at about 2 p.m.

While the mishap was accidental, Bryan rescheduled the date of his stop in Lexington, Ky. Originally set for Friday, the night after the show in Columbus, Bryan is now set to perform in Lexington Feb. 21.

A Schottenstein Center representative did not respond to an email requesting comment Monday evening.