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40 hurt as floor collapses at B.C. church concert

Lighting also fell from ceiling at B.C. church

Apr 27, 2008 04:30 AM
James Keller
THE CANADIAN PRESS

ABBOTSFORD, B.C.–Felicia Daase could only watch in horror as her friends plunged "like an elevator" through the floor of a local church during a Christian rock concert in this British Columbia community late Friday night.

Daase, 17, says excited rock fans were urged to stop jumping up and down in the church before a large section of the floor collapsed and the lighting system fell from the ceiling. More than 40 people were hurt in Abbotsford's Central Heights Church when the floor gave way.

Two people were transported to hospital in Vancouver. Police confirmed a woman, 41, suffered critical injuries; the condition of the second patient was not available.

"The whole floor just went ... straight down," Daase said yesterday from her home in nearby Chilliwack.

Seconds later, she said, the beam holding the lights also fell. "A whole bunch of people were under it."

Police said it was too early to speculate about what caused the collapse, adding investigators would consult an engineer sort out what happened.

Rob Neiman, 42, a Christian bookstore worker at the show, saw more than 50 people down below "like a pile of wreckage, bodies laying everywhere ..."

Const. Casey Vinet, of the Abbotsford police, said every available officer responded, as did some from neighbouring communities

Wolfman wrote:Reminds me of this horrible event. Leave to a KC architect to change the design ??

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40 hurt as floor collapses at B.C. church concert
Felicia Daase could only watch in horror as her friends plunged "like an elevator" through the floor of a local church during a Christian rock concert in this British Columbia community late Friday night.