1 dead after storm blows down beer tent

ST. LOUIS -- High winds swept through a beer tent where 200 people gathered after a Cardinals game Saturday, killing one and critically injuring at least five others, authorities said. But the owner of the bar said it was lightning -- not wind -- that killed the patron.

At least 17 were hospitalized and up to 100 were treated at the scene after officials said straight-line winds whipped through a large tent outside Kilroy's Sports Bar, near Busch Stadium. The crowd was celebrating after the Cardinals beat Milwaukee 7-3.

Eddie Roth, director for the St. Louis Department of Public Safety, said winds of about 50 mph shattered aluminum poles that held up the tent. The force of the wind blew the tent onto an adjacent railroad bridge.

"It was crazy, scary," said Annie Randall, whose family owns Kilroy's. "We're just so sorry this happened."

Kilroy's owner Art Randall described a short burst of a storm -- perhaps five seconds, he said -- with a massive wind that lifted the tent, threw it perhaps 100 feet into the air and sent the aluminum poles and most everything in the tent airborne.

As the wind blew, a bolt of lightning crashed into the bar, Randall said. He said firefighters told him it was a lightning strike -- not flying debris -- that killed the man.

He said three customers ran over to administer CPR, but they couldn't save the man.

Roth said the tent had passed inspection and it didn't appear there would be any violation, although a probe is ongoing.

The St. Louis area was under thunderstorm and tornado warnings several times Saturday.