Pastor and devoted father named and pictured after being identified as victim of festival sign collapse
Robert Guanco, 41, was killed at the UK's largest Christian music festival, which the Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally described as leaving her "sad and shocked.Organisers scrapped the entire Big Church Festival, which had been expected to draw up to 40,000 attendees across the bank holiday weekend.Strong winds toppled the wooden 'Everything's Unmissable' sign on the festival's opening day, Friday, prompting groups of up to 50 bystanders to help lift the timber board off those trapped beneath.A 41-year-old man from Eastbourne died after the sign crushed revellers at the Big Church Festival near Steyning, West Sussex.
Robert Guanco, 41, a pastor at Jesus the Living Water Church in Eastbourne, is set to be formally identified as the man killed when a large wooden archway collapsed at the Big Church Festival near Steyning, West Sussex, on Friday. His church has remembered him as a loving husband to Isay and a devoted father to Ellie. Police are expected to investigate whether the structure had been properly secured before high winds brought it down.
The sign, which read 'Everything's Unmissable', is reported to have fallen in a strong gust, with six others expected to require medical attention — four requiring hospital treatment, two of them seriously.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally is expected to offer her condolences, with her office indicating she will pray for Guanco's family and those set to receive ongoing treatment.
A GoFundMe page being set up for his wife, daughter and extended family is expected to seek donations to support the bereaved family in the coming days.
