Authorities say a pier full of individuals celebrating Labor Day on the College of Wisconsin-Madison campus partially collapsed right into a lake, leaving one individual hospitalized and barely injuring about 20 others
ByThe Related Press
September 5, 2023, 9:46 AM
MADISON, Wis. — A pier full of individuals celebrating Labor Day on the College of Wisconsin-Madison campus partially collapsed right into a lake, leaving one individual hospitalized and barely injuring about 20 others, officers mentioned.
Video shot from Lake Mendota’s shoreline exhibits that part of the metallic pier simply east of the Union Terrace’s campus stage collapsed Monday afternoon, sending some individuals falling into the water.
The Madison Hearth Division mentioned one individual was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening accidents and 5 others had been handled on the scene for minor accidents. UW-Madison Police Officer Jeff Kirchman informed the Wisconsin State Journal that “20 or so” had minor accidents, along with the one who was hospitalized.
“There have been method too many youngsters on the piers. They had been packed. There was no warning. Rapidly it went down and folks had been within the water,” mentioned Debra Drewek, a retired nurse who was taking photos on the terrace when the collapse occurred.
She mentioned lots of the individuals on the collapsed part swam to shore and that others clung to the pier and waited for rescue boats to reach. Drewek mentioned a lot of the accidents gave the impression to be leg scrapes, and that “a variety of youngsters had been crying as a result of that they had laptops, wallets and telephones underwater.”
Kirchman mentioned efforts had been being made to get well misplaced gadgets from the lake.
UW-Madison officers mentioned in an announcement that the swimming space was not staffed by lifeguards on the time of the collapse and that the pier was scheduled to be eliminated Tuesday because of the finish of the summer season season.
