Man falls to his death during Phish show in San Francisco

(Image credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

A Phish fan has died after reportedly jumping from a balcony during a performance at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Sunday night. The incident was the first of two that took place during the show, with two more patrons injured less than an hour later when another fan fell.

"We were a couple rows behind the first guy that jumped intentionally and we saw him right when he put his feet on the barrier, stood up and just leapt,” witness Robert Moen told local TV station KTVU. “He went out of view and I realized later, that was a huge drop, maybe four stories or so.”

The San Francisco police confirmed the fan's death in a statement, saying, "Medics arrived and immediately provided medical treatment, but despite the efforts of the emergency responders the victim succumbed to his injuries and was declared deceased. At this time we have found no evidence of foul play for this incident."

“The man that fell and died landed on a chair right next to my buddy, wrote one witness on Reddit. "[His] shoulder brushed my buddy’s shoulder as he fell. Two inches to the left and my buddy would have been killed as well. The sound is one I will never forget. I am trained in CPR and first aid, so I went to try and assist, but it was clear he was no longer alive."

Less than an hour after the first incident, police officers and medics responded to reports of another man reportedly tripping before falling from a balcony at the venue. He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, while the concert goer who broke his fall suffered a broken leg.

Fans who spoke to another TV station, KPIX 5, expressed concerns over the height of the safety barriers at the venue, with ticket-holder Richard Langston saying, "They weren’t really designed for an event where everyone is up and dancing and there’s a whole lot of drug use."

In a statement, The Chase Center said, “We are working with the local authorities to determine exactly what happened, and will defer questions about the incident to the San Francisco Police Department."

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.