26 injured, 5 seriously, after tent collapses during employee appreciation event in Bedford Park

BEDFORD PARK, Ill. - At least 26 people were injured, five of them seriously, when an event tent collapsed Thursday morning in southwest suburban Bedford Park.

Around 10:44 a.m., police and fire officials responded to the Cintas Design Collective facility located in the 5600 block of West 73rd Street. There, they discovered more than two dozen people were injured after a massive picnic tent had come crashing down.

The Bedford Park Fire Department, along with multiple nearby agencies, transported 26 people to area hospitals with five of them listed in serious condition.  

The tent collapsed during an employee appreciation event in the facility’s parking lot.

By Thursday evening, the scene remained untouched with picnic tables and food stations still set up – as investigators worked to piece together how the accident happened.

The Cintas Design Collective, according to its website, serves as a fashion house dedicated to imagining and creating new uniforms for clients.

The cause of the tent collapse is currently under investigation; however, the U.S. Department of Labor confirms to FOX 32 Chicago that "the tent was erected in the parking lot by a third party."

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has opened an investigation into the incident. According to a spokesperson, "OSHA has six months to complete its investigation, issue citations and proposed monetary penalties, if it finds violations of workplace safety regulations contributed to the incident."

The Vice President of Corporate Affairs from Cintas Corporation released the following statement in response to the incident:

Several of our employee-partners were injured at an incident that occurred during an employee-appreciation event earlier today at our Design Collective facility in Bedford Park, IL. We are grateful to the first responders who arrived within minutes of the incident and provided assistance.

The health and safety of our employee-partners is our number one priority.  We are cooperating with local officials to determine the cause of the incident. Cintas will continue to monitor the situation and do everything we can to assist our employee-partners during this time.