5 hurt as ceilings collapse in R.I. church

PAWTUCKET, R.I. - Five people attending a small meeting in the basement of a Pawtucket church were slammed to the floor after two ceilings collapsed last night, sending them to local hospitals.

The Fire Department responded to a call from the Park Place Congregational Church at 8:35 p.m. and found five victims with lacerations, an injured ankle, inhalation problems from debris, and neck and back injuries.

Four were taken by ambulance to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence; one was brought to Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket.

At the time of the collapse, witnesses said two meetings were being held in the building - one for Alcoholics Anonymous and the other for Al-Anon.

Sixty people attended, but only nine were in the area of the collapse, Fire Chief Tim Mercer said.

"There was no warning of collapse, whatsoever," Mercer said. "A plaster and wire mesh ceiling fell onto a suspended ceiling, crashing onto them.

"They used to use it instead of sheet rock. It's very, very heavy material. It fell down in big, big chunks. It threw them to the ground, some just ducked and covered."

The 20-by-30-foot room was covered in rubble after the mishap.

"We're all so discombobulated," said one witness, who would not give her name. "We don't even know what happened."

A city inspection official at the scene said the building met inspection requirements.

"It was in compliance with the [city] code when it was built," said John Hanley, a city building official. "That was the only code it needed to comply with. Has the city inspected it recently? No."