Three of the people who were injured when the roof collapsed at a theater hosting a MORBID ANGEL concert in Belvidere, Illinois last Friday night (March 31) spoke to ABC 7 Chicago about their experience.

Dylan Crone, whose injuries are still visible, said from his hospital bed: “I don’t even know how I made it out. As soon as I felt pain and started yelling for help, I said there was still a chance that I can make it through this. I was in front left center of the stage, so right where the main part of the building fell, I was right there. It just immediately crashed on me, and I was out like light.”

Paul Rojas, who was standing near Fred Livingston, Jr., the only fatality from the disaster, and Fred‘s son, recalled: “I feel the whole, heavy things in my body, my legs, my head. When you realize days after, and see that, man, he was next to me.”

Victoria Bella, who was also in the front row, said: “I remember going to turn to run away and something hit me in the head, and the next thing I knew I was unconscious. And, the last thing I remember was a paramedic scooping me up and taking me to an ambulance.”

Some of the concertgoers at the Apollo Theater have returned to the venue for the first time since the roof collapsed, trying to identify the belongings they left behind in the rubble.

“You could hear screaming, I didn’t know if the world was ending, or it was a tornado,” Violet Munoz, who attended the show on Friday, told WTVO. “The next second, I was buried alive. I was pulled from the rubble by my boyfriend, Eric Biel. He’s a hero. And everyone in there.”

Although the concert was reportedly sold out, the Belvidere Police Department said only 260 people were at the Apollo Theater on March 31 when the collapse occurred as a heavy storm rolled through the area. The capacity of the theater is around 1,500.

In total, 28 people were taken to local hospitals by paramedics and another 48 people sought treatment on their own.

Officials were notified by the National Weather Service of a tornado warning at 7:45 p.m. CT. The roof collapsed ten minutes later, according to Belvidere Fire Department chief Shawn Schadle.

Livingston‘s sister Deanna Hicks told ABC7 Chicago he was attending the concert at the theatre with his son Alex, who Hicks said is “OK.”

Belvidere police chief Shane Woody described the scene when police arrived as “chaos. Absolute chaos. When officers are first on the scene, when the fire department and first responders get here, they do the best they can to control the chaos as much as possible,” he said. “But ultimately, we go in, and ultimately try and find people, and save as many people as we possibly can — and bring them to safety as best as we can.”

One person who was inside the theater when the collapse happened told Rockford Scanner: “It was in between sets. The first band had just played. People were going outside to smoke. And then all the people came running back in, ’cause the rain started coming down real heavy. Then all of a sudden the door that they came out of was swinging back and forth, slamming super hard. All the power went out in the building and the entire ceiling collapsed on everybody in the front area — right at the stage, on the stage, the people behind the stage; that sector of the building. When it came down, it blew me out towards the exit door. I crawled out a hole through the door and I escaped without a scratch; I don’t know how I did. But there’s definitely casualties and 50 wounded — severely. It’s horrible.”

“Initially, I was confused because it felt like an earthquake, and I was thinking, ‘Why would there be an earthquake right now?'” an audience member at the concert who narrowly escaped injury told The New York Times. “As soon as that happened. I watched as the entire roof collapsed on everybody, basically right where we were standing.”

The concert was part of MORBID ANGEL‘s 2023 U.S. tour, featuring support acts CRYPTA, SKELETAL REMAINS and REVOCATION.

According to the venue’s official Facebook page, doors were scheduled to open at 6:00 p.m., with CRYPTA set to perform at 7 p.m., SKELETAL REMAINS at 7:45 p.m., REVOCATION at 8:40 p.m. and MORBID ANGEL at 9:40 p.m.

The collapse was reported as severe storms with 90 mph winds blew through the area.

According to local reports, at least 20 ambulances were dispatched to the theater, which is located roughly 14 miles outside of the city of Rockford.

Photos and video taken at the venue showed that the theater’s marquee and façade had crashed on to the street, with debris littering the area as first responders worked to help the injured.

Belvidere is located in Boone County, about 72 miles from Chicago.

The Apollo Theatre opened in 1921 as a stage play, movie, and vaudeville venue.