A second-story deck collapse at a weekend gold tournament in Billings, Montana, injured more than 30 people, police and local officials said Sunday.
Emergency services were called to the Briarwood Country Club on Saturday night after the second floor patio at Black Bunker Bar and Grill collapsed and crashed into the ground floor. Chaos ensued as tournament spectators landed on top of each other as the ground gave way and he crashed to the ground. It is not clear how many people were on the deck when it collapsed.
At least 25 people were hospitalized with injuries, including head injuries, another 8 were treated at the scene and an unknown number of injured left without treatment, the Billings Police Department said in a statement posted to Facebook on Sunday. No deaths or critical injuries have been reported.
Billings City Government
The brother of one of the victims posted on Facebook that his brother is being treated at the hospital for injuries, including suspected broken ribs, sustained in the rig collapse.
A spokeswoman for the local St. Vincent Healthcare hospital said in a press release on Sunday that the hospital received 29 patients and most of them “were treated and released last night… but three patients have been admitted to St. Vincent for further care, all in fair to fair condition.”
Victoria Hill, a spokeswoman for the City of Billings, said news week that he had no update on the cause of the incident and that “it was up to the golf club to investigate the cause for insurance purposes.”
The golden club was hosting a tournament with 250 people registered to attend.
A huge response was mounted after receiving the first emergency call at 7.50pm
“The first ambulance arrived at the scene at 8:00 pm. The most seriously injured victims were transported from the scene in the first 30 minutes and the last ambulance left the scene at 8:54 pm,” the spokeswoman said.
The Billings Fire Department had 11 units attend the scene.
The Billings Police Department dispatched 12 units to respond to the incident, with officers assisting with crowd control, traffic management and guiding victims to safety.
Fortunately, none of the victims had to be pulled from the rubble and no children were reported to be among the injured.
There was no one below the deck when it collapsed.
news week has contacted one of the victims and her family for comment.