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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Partial theater collapse in London injures 75

A woman stands bandaged and wearing a blanket given by emergency services following an incident at the Apollo Theatre, on London's Shaftesbury Avenue. (Associated Press)
Cassandra Vinograd And Jill Lawless Associated Press

LONDON – Hunks of plaster and dust rained down on a packed audience when the ceiling of a London theater partially collapsed Thursday night. More than 75 people were injured – seven seriously, authorities said.

The collapse at the Apollo Theatre took place around 8:15 p.m. during a performance of “The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time” at the height of the Christmas holiday season. Plaster and masonry from a section of the ceiling tumbled down, bringing parts of the theater’s balconies down with it onto the audience, police said.

More than 700 people were in the theater at the time, according to the London Fire Brigade.

Officials said most of the injured were “walking wounded” with upper-body injuries and that all are conscious and breathing.

Police and fire officials said it was too soon to say what had caused the partial collapse of the ceiling but that a full investigation is being carried out.

Dee Kearney said she was just three or four seats from the stage when an actor shouted “watch out!”

“Then what we felt was debris falling on us, a loud bang, and then all of a sudden there was a coat of dust,” she said.

Scott Daniels, an American tourist who lives in the Dallas area, said he’d managed to buy a last-minute ticket to the acclaimed production just before show time.

“I was lucky to get one seat that they had left over,” he said. About 40 or 45 minutes into the show, he said, he started hearing noises – and screaming.

“I thought, maybe this is part of the play,” he said. “All of a sudden, plaster starts raining down, huge hunks of plaster. … The lights went out and everything filled with dust – everybody was coughing and choking.”

He said he made it out with “a couple scrapes.”

Dust-covered theatergoers, many with bandaged heads, were treated by dozens of emergency workers in the street outside the Apollo and at a nearby theater. City buses were commandeered to usher some of the wounded to hospitals.

London Ambulance Service said it had treated 76 patients, with 51 taken to hospitals. Seven people suffered “serious injuries” but there were no fatalities and none of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.

Shaftesbury Avenue, normally one of London’s busiest streets and teeming with pedestrians, was completely shut down by emergency workers.

The Apollo Theatre was built in 1901 and has 775 seats. The show, which is aimed at young people as well as adults, is about a boy with Asperger’s who sets out to solve a crime.