Falling ice, snow hurt six workers at Cowboys Stadium

DALLAS – Jerry Jones has long looked forward to Super Bowl week, to the glitz and glitter sure to come with hosting the NFL’s biggest and most-watched event in his showcase $1.2 billion stadium.

The lead-up to Sunday’s game wasn’t supposed to be like this.

A long, cold week in North Texas took an even worse turn Friday when six people were injured after being struck by ice and snow falling off the domed roof of cavernous Cowboys Stadium in nearby Arlington. None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, but the accident added to the general sense of frustration with cold weather in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this week.

The injured were private contractors hired by the NFL to prepare the stadium for the game. One man was hit in the head, another in the shoulder.

It was a jarring incident, coming two days before the game at the end of the season that saw the Vikings displaced – twice – after the roof of the Metrodome collapsed under heavy snow. No one was hurt.

Most stadium entrances were closed as a precaution and officials raised the temperature inside the arena in an attempt to melt any remaining ice.

The forecast called for temperatures getting into the low 40s under partly cloudy skies today. There is a chance of rain or more snow early Sunday with the temperature again around 40.