[Above: Billy Corgan]
A mysterious fan death marred a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Vancouver this past Monday (Sept. 24). The Toronto Star reports that concertgoers dragged a young man's body from a packed crowd at Vancouver's PNE Forum. The cause of death was not immediately clear, but it appears the fan got sucked into a mosh-pit while crowd-surfing.
One eyewitness told Vancouver's News1130 Radio that the young man fell while crowd-surfing and "when he came out, he was lifeless."
The Edmonton Journal reports that the fan was a 20-year-old native of nearby Richmond, British Columbia. His body did not appear to have any external bruises or other injuries, as one might expect. A coroner is currently investigating the incident.
PNE spokeswoman Laura Ballance expressed the venue's grief over the incident and reiterated PNE's "three strikes, you're out" policy when it comes to crowd-surfers.
"Regardless of how it happened, a 20-year-old who came to enjoy a night of music is gone," Ballance said. "It's extremely sad and very tragic."
The Smashing Pumpkins are still on a lengthy North American tour that will last through mid-November. Tour dates can be found on their MySpace page.
UPDATE (9/28, 3:34 p.m.): The Toronto Globe and Mail gives the young man's name as Kenny Leung. Vancouver's regional coroner has conducted an autopsy, and reports that Leung did not die of injury in the concert mosh-pit. He's currently awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine what the cause of death might have been. Thanks to Pitchfork for the link.
Related Links:
Paste: Billy Corgan Wants His Pumpkins Back
SmashingPumpkins.com
Video from the PNE Performance (YouTube)
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