About half of the guests at a New Hampshire wedding on Saturday fell into the venue’s basement when a floor collapsed, according to the state fire marshal.
Six people were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after the incident at Chocorua Reserve, a wedding venue in the White Mountains town of Tamworth, and an investigation is ongoing.
According to fire officials, Tamworth Fire/Rescue was dispatched to Chocorua Reserve just after 4:30pm on Saturday to reports of a collapsed floor with more than 100 people celebrating a wedding above.
The caller said multiple people were trapped under beams and farm equipment in the barn.
When first responders arrived on scene, they learned venue staff and wedding guests used ladders to help people who had fallen from the collapsed floor.
Investigators with the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office initially determined that 144 guests were inside the venue’s “Sap House” building, a maple sugar shack, at the beginning of the wedding when the floor collapsed. Nearly 70 of them fell into the basement through an opening approximately 20 feet by 20 feet.
“While the investigation is in the early stages, investigators believe the building was operating beyond its capacity prior to the floor collapse,” fire officials said in a news release Saturday evening.
The full extent of the injuries from the incident remains under investigation, but as of Saturday evening, four of the six hospitalized patients had been discharged. Several other guests were treated at the scene.
Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is encouraged to contact the New Hampshire Fire Marshal’s Office at (603) 223-4289 or fmo@dos.nh.gov.
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