Falling scaffolding injures patron at Soca Glow fete in Tobago

A 47-year-old female patron who attended Soca Glow at Pigeon Point Heritage Park, Tobago, on Friday night, suffered head injuries after two of the scaffolding towers that were erected at the venue, collapsed during gusty winds and rain after the fete.

The woman, from Trinidad, was taken to the Scarborough General Hospital by fire service officers and is being closely monitored.

Soca Glow was part of the Great Fete weekend, a six-day beach party, which began on July 27 at Canoe Bay. It ends on August 1, Emancipation Day.

Friday’s cast included soca artistes Adana, Ding Dong, Farmer Nappy, Nessy Preppy, Lyrical and Nailah Blackman. They were to be backed up by the A Team Band.

The event was dedicated to late soca artiste Dexter “Blaxx” Stewart, who died of covid19 in March.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Tobago, David Thomas, told Sunday Newsday the incident occurred about 8.10 am on Saturday.

“Two of the scaffolding towers that were constructed at the venue fell due to the high wind and rain that affected the area just after the fete was stopped by police around 8 o’clock.”

Thomas said he planned to meet with the promoters and the structural engineer, ahead of Saturday night’s fete, which was expected to feature Jamaican dancehall artistes, Skillibeng, Skeng and Spice alongside local acts such as Yung Bredda, Toppy Boss, Jahllano and Teejah.

“I intend to ensure that we do not have a recurrence,” he said.

Thomas said an engineer checked the structure before the fete and gave clearance.

“With the coming of the weather system, the structure fell but structure itself did not fail.”

Thomas, said from his many years in the Fire Service, he believed the incident should not have occurred.

“From where I sit, I feel it is something that should not have happened because when you have professional, certified persons clearing a venue, you would not normally expect something like that to occur.”

He added, “So I don’t know if due diligence was paid to every aspect of the venue.”

Thomas said the surface on which the towers were constructed, was solid when the certification was done.

“But the type of rainfall there was at Pigeon Point would have caused that whole ground to be really saturated. This means that when the ground comes soft, you can have shifting and movement. So coupled with the heavy winds, the collapse of the structure was quite a possibility.”