|
A phone call to the venue, the Preserve at Chocorua, was not
answered. Tamworth, a town of about 2,800 people, is around 115
miles (185 kilometers) north of Concord, New Hampshire, near the
western border of Maine. Phone calls to the MaineHealth Memorial
Hospital went unanswered Saturday night.
The Fire Marshal's Office said while more than 100 people
gathered in a building called the Sap House at the venue, the
floor buckled creating a 20-foot by 20-foot opening and sending
about 70 people into the basement. Several people were trapped
by the fallen beams and by farm equipment that had been stored
on the lower floor.
An office spokesperson said in a release late Saturday that
before first responders arrived, other guests and staff helped
some of the people who had fallen climb out of the basement with
the aid of ladders, and were rendering first aid to people with
minor injuries. It was unclear how many people were treated at
the scene, and investigators are still determining the extent of
injuries.
A photo from the Fire Marshal's Office shows a chandelier and
white bunting decorating the ceiling above the buckled floor
boards, as well as stacked benches that had been used for
seating for the wedding before the collapse.
The Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the collapse along
with the Tamworth Fire/Rescue Department, a spokesperson said
Saturday. Investigators believe the building “was over capacity”
prior to the floor collapse, a spokesperson said in a release.
A first responder who arrived on scene shortly after 911 calls
came in described half the floor of the building where the
wedding ceremony was set to take place as having fallen into the
basement over scanner traffic listened to on Broadcastify. He
asked for more first responders to talk to witnesses, saying
there were about 145 people present at the event. The responder
also said they were carefully pulling people out of the building
basement.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
