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Storm lashes Illinois

One person was killed and up to 20 injured on Sunday when a tent blew off its moorings during a brief storm that brought high winds and hail to a festival in a suburb of Chicago.

Art Woods, a city council member from the suburb of Wood Dale, said that in addition to the death, three people were seriously injured. No other details of the fatality were immediately released.

The incident happened at about 2:40 p.m. when high winds and hail ripped the tent from its moorings, said Craig Celia, a spokesman for Wood Dale, which is about 25 miles northwest of Chicago. The remainder of the festival's final day was cancelled, he said.

Photos of the scene showed police and fire officials holding up a sheet over a body and chairs, tables and other debris strewn on the grass near where the tent collapsed.

Tracy Anderson, whose husband is a member of a band that was scheduled to perform there Sunday, said her husband witnessed the huge tent blow up in the air and land.

"The tarp landed on several people, and rescuers started cutting holes to get them out," Anderson told the Chicago Tribune.

The annual celebration known as the Prairie Fest is a four-day event with food, live music, a carnival and fireworks. Thousands of people attend and there were around 5,000 there on Saturday night, Woods said.

Parts of the Chicago area were hit by a brief but intense summer storm that brought high winds and left tree branches strewn on major roads, snarling traffic.

The storm also prompted organizers to briefly shut down the popular music festival Lollapalooza in Chicago's Grant Park on Sunday afternoon, although the music had resumed by late afternoon.



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