Ind. fair to honor collapse dead before resuming

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sobbing friends and relatives are gathering at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for a memorial service to honor five people who were killed when high winds toppled a stage.

Gov. Mitch Daniels and others will remember the victims this morning in a ceremony at the fairground, which was closed for a day following the tragedy. Some 500 people have arrived for the ceremony since the gates reopened at 8 a.m. Flags are flying at half-staff.

Daniels told WTHR-TV that the ceremony will honor the lives of the three women and two men fatally injured in Saturday’s collapse.

Gusts of between 60 and 70 mph toppled the stage where an estimated 12,000 people were waiting to see the country band Sugarland. Four dozen people also were injured.