World Tibet Network News Sunday, June 14, 1998

11:31 p.m. Jun 13, 1998 Eastern

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lightning struck a stadium where more than 50,000 people were attending a Tibetan aid concert Saturday, splintering concrete and sending at least six to the hospital.

A 25-year-old woman was in critical condition in the burn unit at a local hospital after being directly struck by lightning in the stands at Washington's RFK Stadium, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The others were in good or fair condition or had been treated and released at local hospitals, officials said.

The Tibetan Freedom Concert had been halted as heavy rains pelted the field and organizers were trying to get concert-goers to take shelter in the stadium's inner corridors when the lightning bolt struck, accompanied by an ear-splitting clap of thunder, witnesses said.

``I saw a light flash ... and a lightning bolt came down,'' Matthew Konowicz told a local television station. ``People started panicking.''

Sam Jordan of the D.C. Office of Emergency Preparedness said the storm swept in so suddenly, there was little his office could do to warn concert organizers.

``It came so fast. It was on the ground too quick,'' he said.

The lightning struck five minutes after stadium officials announced over the public address system that a violent storm was approaching, D.C. Fire Battalion Chief William Gross said.

Local radio reports said concrete was cracked in the section of the stadium hit by lightning.

The six remaining performers were canceled Saturday, but organizers said the second day of the two-day show would go on as planned and some of the canceled performances might be wedged into Sunday's bill.

The National Weather Service said Sunday should be partly sunny, warm and less humid. No thunderstorms were predicted.

The concert was designed as a prelude to Monday's National Day of Action for Tibet, which will be capped by what organizers have billed as the largest rally ever held for Tibet, scheduled for Monday on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

It is the third consecutive year for concerts to raise awareness of the plight of Tibet under Chinese rule. They began in 1996 in San Francisco and moved last year to New York under the auspices of the Milarepa Fund, a nonprofit group co-founded by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, one of Sunday's acts.

Performers at Saturday's show included Live, KRS-1, the Dave Matthews Band and a reunited Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters.

But Beck, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the first performance of R.E.M. since the defection of drummer Bill Berry were washed out.

Hancock had finished his set and the show had been suspended as rains swept the stadium when the lightning storm struck. There was ``mass hysteria inside as you can imagine once this thing broke loose,'' William Briggs of the D.C. Fire Department said.

Michael Stipe, lead singer of R.E.M, took the stage afterward to tell concert-goers the show had been canceled.

The severe thunderstorms, which passed through the Washington area in the late afternoon, knocked out electricity for 43,000 customers in Maryland and 50,000 in Virginia, local power authorities said.

Torrential rains also struck other eastern states. Part of New York City's subway was closed after some tracks flooded when several inches of rain fell. Flash flood warnings were also posted in New England and Boston declared a state of emergency as the Charles River crested. Part of the submerged Massachusetts Turnpike was closed.