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Just months after nine fans were trampled to death at an outdoor music festival in Denmark where Pearl Jam was performing, the band is once again involved with tragedy. Three teenage fans were crushed this week at a Tower Records store in San Jose, CA after attempting to view a display of the 25 double disc live sets the band released this week.
The band has issued no statement on the incident, while Tower Records expressed "deepest sympathies for the loved ones of the deceased." There is already considerable finger pointing, with critics blaming the band for issuing a ridiculous number of recordings at the same time, and also at the record chain for attempting to stack all of them in one area. Tower Records has announced it will no longer create massive "tower" displays at any of its locations, and the discs will only be stored individually in standard bins or racks. Other retailers are expected to file suit.
The three teens, whose names have not been released, approached a large structure in the middle of the store that contained copies of all 25 albums. The intent, according to several employees, was to give customers a sense of the spectacle of so many compact discs being released by one artist. Unfortunately, the spectacle was all too real for the youngsters, who were unable to escape as the tower started to buckle. An eyewitness described hearing rumblings at the bottom of the display, followed by a sudden collapse, which brought all the discs down in a terrifying avalanche of music. "It was horrible," said a still-shaken Robert Morris. "They never had a chance."
The bodies of the victims were discovered after rescue teams took three hours to sift through the vast amount of compact discs. It is believed that the teens did not suffer under the rubble, but died upon impact. Investigators, while mindful of the tragic circumstances, took some solace in the fact that most customers were in the Rap/R&B section at the time of the accident.
Nobody seems to be able to answer the question of why Pearl Jam saw fit to release such an absurd amount of music in the first place. Nevertheless, authorities have reportedly absolved the band of any responsibility, and are instead consulting with structural engineers as to the safety of the mammoth displays.
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