VIDEO FEATURES DISTURBING CONTENT. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
A THEATRE stage in China – packed with over 100 children and several adults – partially collapsed on Saturday, leaving one girl dead and 14 others injured.
The mishap occurred at the Golden Daffodil Theatre in Zhangzhou, Fujian province on the evening of May 25, during a mass audition for the Lucky Peacock dance display, the South China Morning Post reported.
Participants of the event had amassed on the stage for a group photo session – as proud parents snapped images and recorded video from their seats – when a central portion of the theatre platform suddenly crumpled, bringing dozens of people down with it.
A viral video of the tragic event, which captures the exact moment of the collapse, shows brightly-costumed children standing or sitting cheek-by-jowl in roughly ten very long rows, as still more children are directed onto the stage.
Suddenly and without warning, participants in the middle rows drop from view, in a gentle descent from left to right.
The footage then cuts to a bird’s-eye view of the stage in the moments of pandemonium immediately following the collapse. Panicked parents and teachers are seen clustered around the rim of the large hole in the platform, desperately trying to reach the victims who had fallen several feet below – as others run helter-skelter all across the stage.
The video then transitions to scenes taken from beneath the stage, and shows rescuers extricating several of the injured children, as firefighters assess the damage. One rescuer, trailed by several medical personnel, is seen whisking away an unconscious little girl, dressed in a ballerina outfit, to a waiting ambulance.
According to the South China Morning Post, one child was pronounced dead at the scene, while 14 others were rushed to hospital with injuries. Three of them were in serious condition.
The head of the event organiser, as well as representatives of companies associated with the show, have since been detained by Zhangzhou police.