False ceiling of SMC hall comes off, 10 hurt

Surat: At at least 10 people were injured, including one person who was injured in the head, when the false ceiling of Khatodara community hall of SMC came crashing down on guests during the haldi ceremony of a wedding on Sunday noon.
Terrified by the unexpected mishap, the guests started running here and there after the accident. The ceremony had to be cancelled.
As the incident took place amid heavy rain in the city, multiple fire brigade teams rushed to the hall for rescue operation.By that time, the hosts had already sent the injured to nearby hospitals and clinics. Some injured people were given treatment at the hall.
To avoid any further collapse, the fire brigade teams removed the damaged and dangerous parts of the dangling structure of the false ceiling.
SMC officials, when contacted, said that there was no seepage of water from the ceiling but the screws which were fitted on the structure were loose. “We carried out an inspection at the spot. We found that the screws which were fitted on the structure were loose, resulting in the incident. We also checked if there was any seepage from the ceiling or any other part but we did not find it anywhere,’’ said an SMC official.