A rock concert was in store on a Friday at the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, Illinois, with hundreds of people looking forward to a night of death metal music to start the weekend.
What followed was "chaos, absolute chaos" in the words of Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody as vicious storms brought down the roof half an hour into the show with 260 people inside the theatre.
The deadly tragedy summed up the sudden destruction left by recent tornadoes that have ripped through the United States' South and Midwest.
"The lights go out, I hear a noise. Everything crashes down," Jessica Hernandez, who was inside the theatre on Friday, told Reuters in an interview. The 18-year-old said her friends had convinced her to attend the concert.
A man aged around 50 was killed in the collapse and dozens were left injured, officials said. He was identified as Frederick Forest Livingston Jr by his employer and sister, according to ABC News.
More than 40 people were treated at local hospitals following the roof collapse incident and most injuries included orthopaedic, head and neurologic trauma, and soft tissue injuries, CBS News reported, citing a local doctor.
Death metal band Morbid Angel, which was scheduled to perform at the concert, wrote on its Facebook page that the tornado caused "the roof, over the area in-front of the stage, and marquee to collapse." The show was subsequently cancelled.
All the people had been accounted for, officials said on Saturday. The concertgoers were eventually led to safety by emergency workers.
In Illinois, three other people were killed in Crawford County after the collapse of a residential structure, the state Emergency Management Agency said on Saturday.
Over 20 people were left dead and scores wounded after violent storm packing high winds and heavy rains ripped through Southern and Midwestern sections of the US, heading east on Saturday.
The turbulent weather occurred one week after a swarm of thunderstorms unleashed a deadly tornado that devastated the Mississippi town of Rolling Fork, destroying many of the community's 400 homes and killing 26 people.
