article_snippet.sent: The calamity occurred at the worst possible time - just as dozens walked on stage for the finale. '
article_snippet.sent: All of a sudden, everyone was gone,' one parent from the audience told RTV.
article_snippet.sent: Buckled: Just as the entire cast danced on-stage for the finale, the platform beneath the entire cast collapsed .
article_snippet.sent: Shocking: The performers plummeted through the wooden riser in a spectacle so unbelievable that some audience members initially believed it was choreographed .
article_snippet.sent: After the students behind her plunged into the orchestra pit, her was so shocked that her was unable to move, her said, and was still holding the microphone 30 minutes later.
article_snippet.sent: As soon as the stage went down I just hopped up and started pulling people out of the hole,' he said, adding that students 'really came together as a unit in that moment'.
article_snippet.sent: Some performers walked out of the pit, which was estimated to measure some 10 feet, but others required more serious medical care .
article_snippet.sent: The drop from the top of the wooden riser to the floor was likely around 10 feet.
article_snippet.sent: Many of the witnesses who'd never seen the show weren't initially sure if the show was part of the performance.
article_snippet.sent: Screams and gasps can be heard in video taken of the incident, which shows all but the lead singer vanish in the middle of the song
article_snippet.sent: Some parents rushed the stage area,' audience member Mandi McKinley Brown told IndyStar. '
article_snippet.sent: People were lifting large pieces of the stage out of the pit from on top of the kids.'
article_snippet.sent: Witnesses: Nicola Gruszka, left, was singing in front of the stage when the stage collapsed behind her, while Sam Greathouse, right, helped to pull students out of the hole.
article_snippet.sent: He said He stepped away after noticing something about the stage wasn't right. '
article_snippet.sent: When all the performers rushed the stage, I saw the floor was starting to bow a little bit and I stepped to the left and the stage collapsed,' Camden, a senior, told RTV. '
article_snippet.sent: Chris Baldwin, who works in human resources for the high school about 20 miles north of Indianapolis, said the students fell into the orchestra pit below.
article_snippet.sent: When the stage collapsed, a mass of people ran toward the stage, trying to help a mass of people loved ones, Snyder said.
article_snippet.sent: The incident evoked memories of a 2011 stage collapse at the Indiana Stage Fair that killed seven people and injured nearly 100.
article_snippet.sent: High winds toppled rigging and sent the stage roof onto fans awaiting the start of a concert by the country duo Sugarland.