Ceiling collapse at London theater

Originally published on November 20, 2013

London's historic Apollo Theatre was the scene of a major accident during a live performance at around 8:00 p.m. on Thursday night (December 19). According to a report by Reuters, a 10 meter-square section of the ornate plaster ceiling fell from a height of four to five stories.

The masonry and debris fell onto theater-goers below, resulting in more than 80 people suffering injuries. Police say at least seven people were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

London police say there is no evidence of foul play or terrorism. Nick Harding from the London Fire Brigade told Reuters there was also no indication that a freak rainstorm in the hours before contributed to the collapse. London's Apollo Theater is over a century old and a government surveyor has been sent to perform a structural assessment of the building.

The large number of wounded victims from the accident necessitated the commandeering of a London public bus to help ferry the injured to hospital.

The theater was packed almost to capacity on Thursday night, with some 700 people at the Apollo to see the award-winning play "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," a work adapted from the 2003 book by Mark Haddon.

London police say they will spend the entire evening inside the theater with the government surveyor to ensure the structure is safe enough to enter the next day.

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