Storm slams tent at St. Louis sports bar, 1 killed

One man died and 100 were injured when storms slammed St. Louis today and sent a tent outside a popular sports bar into a railway trestle, The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Winds that reached 50 miles per hour turned the tent – acting as a beer garden – and smashed it against the railway track’s stanchion.

According to The Associated Press, the owner of the bar claimed it was lightning, not the wind, which had killed the man. The news agency said at least 17 people were hospitalized and five were critically injured

“People were pushing and shoving,” Christy Eilermann was quoted as saying by The Post-Dispatch. “The wind just picked up and they started dragging people inside.”

The incident happened just before 4 p.m. at Kilroy’s Sports Bar near Busch Stadium.

Fans had gathered to celebrate the St. Louis Cardinals beating Milwaukee earlier in the day.

“I thought a train fell off the track,” Kilroy’s owner Art Randall told Stltoday.com. “We all ducked for cover. Everything was going sideways. I had metal chairs ripping across the beer garden.”

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A thunderstorm with high winds hit the area with hail before moving away as quickly, Reuters reported.

Police Officer Sherri Bruns told Reuters many of those injured are in critical condition.

St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said firefighters are always wary of tents such as the one blown over today, KSDK.com reported.

He said ambulances transported 17 to hospital, five with head injuries in serious condition.

“This gives us nightmares, and as you can see, it caused one," he told KSDK.com.

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The AP said St. Louis public safety director Eddie Roth claimed the deceased man had appeared to be in his 50s but the news agency said his name had not been released.