30 April 2023 , 21:41
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Six school pupils have been rushed to hospital after a building collapsed during a friendly sports game.
Four of the students were in the press box at the Wayne High School Softball field in Wayne, West Virginia, along with another adult when the wooden structure partially collapsed.
A couple of adults and another student were underneath the structure at the time and were also injured, reports WSAZ.
Wayne County Schools Superintendent Todd Alexander said: “There were five people that were in the press box at the time, it appears we had four students and an adult that were in the press box.
“And underneath the press box, there were a couple of adults and another student.”
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Picture shows the scene of the partially collapsed building (Wayne High School)Two students were transported by helicopter to hospital and the three adults by ambulance.
Four students were taken to get medical care by their parents.
Thankfully none of the injuries appear life threatening.
Emergency services were called at around 1.30pm on Saturday April 29.
The collapse happened in the middle of a middle school softball tournament at Wayne High School.
The boys and girls' teams sit in the hospital waiting room to show support while those injured received treatment (Facebook)By the time emergency crews arrived on scene everyone had been moved away from the partially collapsed structure.
“Not really sure what happened,” Wayne Volunteer Fire Chief Dennis Jackson said. “We do know the floor came down, the cause is still under investigation.”
An expert will be brought in to establish why the building collapsed.
“We will have an inspector here on Monday to look at everything to see exactly what caused this but there’s no doubt that was some sort of structural issue,” Superintendent Alexander said.
The incident happened at Wayne High School, in Wayne, West Virginia (Wayne High School)It's been a bad weekend for US buildings.
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A roof collapsed near Ohio State University after 45 students climbed on top of it during a house party, leaving 14 people in hospital.
Some students were left trapped as part of the building fell to pieces on Saturday night.
Emergency services said the roof, which was not designed to hold significant weight, was overloaded with students moments before the accident.
Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin said his department arrived to find the roof above a front porch had collapsed.
The partially collapsed press box (Wayne High School)"The few people that were trapped, I believe, were probably unpinned," Martin said. "It was like their leg was caught under some of the structure and some of the students lifted that off the students. So everybody was kind of out."
Fourteen victims were taken to local hospitals with "various states of injuries" but they all were in stable condition, Martin said.
"It appears the roof was overloaded with students," Martin said, with estimates ranging from 15 to 45 people on a rooftop "that was not designed to have anybody on it, and it gave way."
The names of the home owner or occupants were not immediately available.
The home is not on the property of the Ohio State University. The main campus in Columbus has an enrolled student population of 61,677 for the 2022-2023 school year, according to the university's website.