A crowded pier celebrating Labor Day on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus partially collapsed into a lake, hospitalizing one person and slightly injuring 20 others, authorities said.
Video taken from the shoreline of Lake Mendota shows that a portion of the metal pier just east of the Union Terrace campus stage collapsed Monday afternoon, causing some people to fall into the water.
The Madison Fire Department said one person was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and five others were treated at the scene for minor injuries. UW-Madison Police Officer Jeff Kirchman told the Wisconsin State Journal that “approximately 20” suffered minor injuries, in addition to the person who was hospitalized.
“There were too many children on the docks. They are full. There was no warning. All of a sudden it sank and there were people in the water,” said Debra Drewek, a retired nurse who was taking pictures on the deck when the collapse occurred.
He said many of the people in the collapsed section swam to shore and others clung to the pier and waited for rescue boats to arrive. Drewek said most of the injuries appeared to be scrapes on the legs and that “a lot of kids were crying because they had laptops, wallets and phones under water.”
Kirchman said efforts were being made to recover the lost items from the lake.
UW-Madison officials said in a statement that the swimming area was without lifeguards at the time of the collapse and that the pier was scheduled to be removed Tuesday due to the end of the summer season.
2023-09-05 20:36:53
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