Over a hundred people were at a religious event at a Texas home on Thursday when the floor suddenly collapsed, sending dozens who were inside to the hospital, the Kansas City Star reported.
Officials do not know exactly how many people were in the apartment above a detached garage in Houston's Katy suburb, but 125 are believed to have attended. The crowd had gathered when the floor "pancaked in," at around 1 p.m., trapping some of the people inside.
Officials told the newspaper that emergency responders were able to free those who were trapped. A total of 36 people were taken to hospitals, with most suffering minor injuries, Tim Thomas, spokesman for the West I-10 Fire Department, told the newspaper.
Witnesses say dozens of ambulances rushed to the scene just moments after the floor caved in.
"I saw streams of people were just coming out," Leticia Sahagun-Rubio, who lives across the street, told the newspaper. "It was just a steam of ambulances. For 30 minutes, you could hear nothing but ambulances."
Makeshift triage areas were set up on the front lawns of neighboring houses to treat the injured before transporting them to hospitals. Three people suffered "urgent" but non-critical injuries, Thomas told the newspaper. No fatalities were reported.
The people were apparently attending a religious ceremony to bless a temple, Sahagun-Rubio told the Kansas City Star. She said she remembers the Indian family that owns the home sent out letters a few days ago advertising the event.
There were up to 150 people gathered at the home, many of whom did not speak English, Sahagun-Rubio said.
No one was in the bottom half of the garage when the apartment above collapsed. The entire two-story garage structure also remained standing.
There are no maximum capacity regulations for residential buildings like the one involved in the incident. However, people are advised to use "good judgment," Houston Fire Department Captain Ruy Lozano told the newspaper.
