One dead and 28 injured after roof collapsed during a rock concert at Apollo Theater in Belvidere, Illinois, triggering a request for 20 ambulances: reports

• The roof of a concert venue collapsed during a show in Belvidere, Illinois, amid severe weather, CBS News reported.
• One person died and 28 people were hospitalized, Belvidere Fire Department Chief Shawn Schadle said.

One person died and 28 people were injured after a roof collapsed during a death metal concert at the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, Illinois, about 72 miles from Chicago, according to Belvidere Fire Department Chief Shawn Schadle.

There were five patients transported with severe injuries, 18 patients with moderate injuries, and five patients with minor injuries, Schadle said at a press conference Friday evening.

The fire chief added that a more thorough search of the venue was being conducted at the time of the conference.

Representatives from the Belvidere police and fire departments could not be immediately reached for comment.

A source from the Chicago Fire Department told CBS News that a request for 20 ambulances was issued.

The structure collapse occurred amid powerful storms and high winds sweeping across the Midwest. A tornado watch was issued Friday evening for multiple counties in Illinois, according to WLS.

Death metal bands Morbid Angel, Revocation, and Skeletal Remains were scheduled to perform on Friday. Chief Schadle said there were approximately 260 people at the theater.

"At this time our focus is on getting everyone out of the venue and home," Alexander Ford, a manager for Morbid Angel, told Insider. "We are doing everything we can to just try and get people out."

Schadle added that, at the same time of the roof collapse, a building across from Apollo Theater had "severe wind damage" and there were calls for "numerous gas leaks," an electrical fire, downed trees, and an elevator rescue.

Manuel Chairez Jr., who was delivering pizza across the street when the incident occurred, told WGN-TV that he witnessed concertgoers coming out of the building with blood on them.

"There were a bunch of concertgoers just trying to figure out what to do because there were a bunch of them coming out with blood all over them," he said.

Chairez Jr. added that he stepped inside the Apollo and saw bricks all over the floor and people who were injured lying on the ground.

In response to the news, Gov. JB Pritzker said on Twitter that his administration was "closely monitoring the situation."

US Rep. Darin LaHood, who represents the district including Belvidere, said that he was "praying for those involved in the roof collapse."

As storms hammer the central US region, hundreds of flights have been grounded at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

Kaitlyn Hoch, a traveler heading to Cleveland, Ohio, from O'Hare, told Insider that her flight was supposed to leave at 6:37 p.m., but is now canceled due to the weather. While waiting to board at the United Club, Hoch said that staff asked people to evacuate to the Tunnel of Lights, a tunnel that connects the United concourses at the airport.

Hoch said that there could have been more than a hundred people that were crowded in the tunnel as they waited out the storm. Hoch described the crowd as "super chill and relaxed."

"I fly into ORD almost every Friday," Hoch told Insider. "I have never seen anything like this. I fly to a new state each week and have never seen this at any airport."

The CDA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.