Six people were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a floor collapsed at a wedding venue in Tamworth, New Hampshire, on Saturday.
According to a joint release from the Tamworth Fire/Rescue Department and the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office, the incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. with as many as 140 people attending the wedding. The office confirmed there were no deaths and that four people who were treated in hospital have been discharged.
Reporters called the Chocorua Reserve, where the event was held, but no one answered.
Tamworth is a small town of about 2,800 people located about 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Concord, New Hampshire, near the western border of Maine. Calls to MaineHealth Memorial Hospital also went unanswered Saturday night.
The fire marshal’s office said more than 100 people were gathered in a building called the Sap House at the venue, but the floor buckled, creating a 20-foot-by-20-foot opening that sent about 70 people into the basement. Several people were trapped by fallen beams and farm equipment stored on the lower level.
The warped floor collapsed, sending nearly 70 wedding guests into the basement of the building (New Hampshire Fire Marshal’s Office, AP)
An office spokesman said Saturday night that other guests and staff used ladders to help some who had fallen out of the basement and administered first aid to those with minor injuries before emergency personnel arrived. It was unclear how many people were treated at the scene and investigators are still determining the extent of the injuries.
A photo from the fire marshal’s office shows a chandelier and white bunting above the curved floor, as well as stacked benches that were used as wedding seating before the collapse.
The fire marshal’s office is investigating the collapse along with the Tamworth Fire/Rescue Department, a spokesman said Saturday. Investigators believe the building was “overloaded” before the floor collapsed, a spokesman said in a news release.
First responders who arrived shortly after the 911 call said half the floor of the building where the wedding was being held fell into the basement due to scanner traffic monitored by Broadcastify. He asked for more first responders to speak to witnesses and said about 145 people attended the event. Responders also said they were carefully pulling people out of the building’s basement.
