A man sustained “life-threatening injuries” after falling from the 200-level seats at PPG Paints Arena during the Pittsburgh Penguins game on Monday night, Pittsburgh Public Safety officials said.
A working detail at the arena was notified by security staff that a person had fallen from the upper concourse and into the lower concourse 15 minutes into the start of the game, public safety officials said.
Photos of the incident poured into the Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 newsroom soon after, while many expressed their concerns for the steep high-seated section on social media.
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter, Sheldon Ingram talked with others on camera, “it really really frightened me,” says Ginger Pardiny. “It really frightened me, for someone who is handicapped it’s so steep.”
Those sentiments are shared by Madalyn Byrnes, “I feel bad for that person and their family, but also not surprised. I’ve been there to the stadium plenty of times, and it is really steep. one step, and it can be a really bad situation.”
According to initial reports, officials said, the man fell from the 200 level at the arena.
Public safety officials said during the fall, the man hit into another person who was in a suite before continuing to fall to the 100 level.
Photos shared with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 appeared to show broken glass from one of the top levels at the arena.
The man was later taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, officials said.
The person who was hit during the incident was evaluated by paramedics and declined further treatment.
Play wasn’t halted after the fall, and few in the arena appeared to see it happen, although some social media accounts posted about it.
A witness who saw the fall spoke to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 and said it happened after the Penguins scored.
“He was like, teetering a little bit, and then he fell forward,” Todd Derr said. “Somehow, just kept sailing over all the seats and people in front of him, and I think his head hit the safety glass, shattered it.”
An investigation into the fall is now underway.
“I just want to say we just found out that someone fell tonight, so you know, it doesn’t feel right to be talking about points when we hear something like that,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said, talking to the media following Monday’s win over the St. Louis Blues. “Our thoughts and prayers are with that person and their family, and hopefully that they’re OK. So, like I said, it feels kind of weird talking about hockey [at this time.]”
Penguins coach Dan Muse also spoke on the incident, saying, “Thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Obviously, we all come here for a sport and a game, and you hear something like that and it puts everything else aside.”
The organization said the Penguins and its OVG Management Group are now closely monitoring the situation.
This incident comes days after a worker at Acrisure Stadium was seriously injured after falling 50 feet from the stadium’s scoreboard while installing production equipment.
It also comes months after Pirates fan Kavan Markwood fell from the Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park during a game in April.
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