Investigators seek cause of school’s stage collapse

Associated Press

ANAHEIM, CALIF.

Investigators combed through a collapsed theater stage at a Southern California high school Sunday, trying to determine why it buckled during a performance and sent 25 students to the hospital, some with broken bones but most with minor injuries such as bruises and scrapes.

Police, firefighters and medics responded to a call Saturday night after the wooden stage gave way at Servite High School, an all-boys Catholic school in Anaheim.

About 250 students from nearby Rosary High School, an all-girls sister school, were singing and dancing on the platform when they fell 5 feet, Anaheim police Lt. Tim Schmidt said.

Witnesses said the collapse was sudden and severe.

“They were on their final performance, so everyone was jumping around like crazy,” Stephanie Stevenson told KABC-TV, “and then all of the sudden, the very front row just completely fell under. We were all in shock.”

The cause appeared to be too many students on stage and too much weight on the platform, Schmidt said. “We’re lucky that no one was seriously injured,” he said. “It was a quick, sudden collapse, and the students fell right away.”

Inspectors will double-check the school’s stage permit to determine if it’s up to date. They will also review whether the permit included a weight restriction or a limit on the number of people who could be on stage. The investigation is expected to take two weeks.