Three in hospital, many injured after ceiling collapsed at a wedding hall in Kardzhali

Two children and an elderly woman are in hospital after a ceiling collapsed during a wedding in the city of Kardzhali, Southern Bulgaria. The three are under observation. A total of 20 people were injured in the incident, which happened last night, August 6.

The suspended ceiling collapsed during a wedding party of a newly married couple, who returned to Bulgaria from Belgium for the celebration.

"We heard something like thunder and within 5 seconds everything was on the ground, the whole ceiling collapsed," said a victim of the incident.

"It started raining heavily, it was dripping everywhere, especially on the musical instruments, while we were moving the instruments suddenly the ceiling started to fall," said Orhan Tahir, a musician.

"There were a total of 300 guests at the celebration, of which 150 were inside the hall where the ceiling collapsed and the other 150 were outside.

"Immediately 3 emergency teams were sent from Kardzhali, these are all teams from Kardzhali, and one from Chernoochene. We were ready to form additional teams and all the colleagues who were on shift stayed voluntarily until the last victim was transported to the Emergency Department," said Dr. Atanas Mitkov, Director of the Centre for Medical Emergency Care in the city of Kardzhali.

This is the first incident in such a hall where many people gather.

"Thanks to the actions of the police, the fire brigade and the ambulance, we managed to control the panic and transport the most seriously injured," added Dr. Atanas Mitkov.

Most of the injured had minor injuries.

"A woman in her 80s with a contusion wound, a boy in his 10s and a girl in her 14s with a concussion are currently in hospital for treatment. They are in good general condition," said Semra Izetova, deputy director of the Dr Atanas Dafovski Hospital.

The police said three people were arrested for negligence.

The newlyweds, Gurjan and Sevgyuler Abdullah, were married after all.