At least 25 people were injured when a floor collapsed into a crawl space during a house party near the University of Georgia early Friday. The party was held at a two-story house in Athens, Georgia, and the first floor of the house collapsed about 1 a.m. Friday, according to Lt. Shaun Barnett of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. The injuries sustained by partygoers were minor, ranging from cuts and bruises to a potential fractured arm, as per PEOPLE.
A two-story house in Georgia collapsed, injured 25 partygoers
No one was rushed to the hospital, though some participants stated that they would seek medical help, said Barnett. Firefighter Capt. Nate Moss of the Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services Department said that entering the house was difficult due to "large numbers of vehicles lining the driveway," the Associated Press reported.
Most of the first floor fell into the crawl room due to dozens of partygoers who overcrowded the space during the event. "We are grateful that this unexpected event didn't turn out any worse," Moss told the AP. "Overcrowding could lead to deck and flooring failures, especially in older structures.
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Police, firefighters responded to a house party where the floor collapsed
When firefighters arrived, Athens police were still on the scene, pulling people from the property. Thanks to "huge numbers of traffic and pedestrians lining the roadway," fire trucks had a tough time getting to the scene. The property was approached by code enforcement to see if it should be condemned.
In this situation, it was the lack of elevation that helped. These people should be thankful for their good fortune. Clayton Harden, a University of Georgia senior who lives nearby, told Atlanta Fox affiliate WAGA that the loud crash jolted him awake.
Harden said he watched people being taken out on stretchers from his window. "And everyone was keeping an eye on each other."
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Devin Jones, another student, told WAGA that he witnessed students breaking down the basement door to free trapped partygoers. Jones said that his roommate jumped in to help people and provided ice to some wounded partygoers. He told the outlet that it was all they could do.
Harden said the area had seen some "pretty big celebrations," but Friday's party was "perhaps the largest" he had seen. According to Barnett, the local code enforcement officer responded to the incident early Friday and declared the property hazardous.
Firefighters said none of the 25 people who were injured were rushed to the hospital by medics. They said that a lot of them decided to drive themselves or make a friend drive them. The collapse was shown in photos provided by Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services. The house's brick foundation buckled from the outside. When the first floor of the house collapsed into a crawl room, police reported that 500 people were at the party.
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