A floor collapsed at an off-campus apartment building near the Indiana University of Pennsylvania injured 12 people over the weekend. Police responded to the Elm by Traverse Commons on Copper Beech Drive in White Township around 11:50 p.m. Saturday. The second floor of the building had collapsed while people were inside. Police told sister station WTAE that it’s unclear how many people were in the apartment, but all occupants were able to get out. They say 12 people were treated by paramedics on the scene. Seven of those 12 people were transported to the hospital and at least one person was taken to the hospital by private means. Injuries ranged from minor to serious.Trooper Cliff Greenfield said responding troopers found one person lying in the road and others grouped outside the three-story building and reported that a floor inside had collapsed.”We saw peoples’ legs all bleeding and cut,” said Kara Banda, who lives a few doors down from the party. Banda called 911 after the collapse.”We heard a really loud crash,” Banda said. “We looked outside and they were smashing out the bottom windows.”Greenfield said some people were hurt as they tried to escape through the first-floor window.”We talked to the neighbor and he said that he was laying in his bed and the ceiling fell on top of him,” Banda said.Banda told WTAE that as of Sunday afternoon, she had not received any communication from her apartment’s management about the floor collapse. WTAE reached out to the management company, but a request for comment was not returned.The building was secured so no one can enter, and Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 crews observed windows being boarded up Sunday.It’s unclear what led to the collapse. Greenfield said it’s unclear how many of those involved were university students or guests visiting during what has been dubbed “IUPatty’s weekend,” a delayed St. Patrick’s Day celebration.Corryn Miller, an IUP junior, said a few of her friends attended the party. Miller and her boyfriend were listening to a police scanner when they heard dispatchers communicating about the collapse.”When you hear the location and know that you have people that are up there that you might know, it’s definitely much more of a concern,” Miller said.IUP spokesperson Michelle Fryling said the university is pledging support to those affected, including short-term housing to those affected, if needed.The off-campus festivities have taken place in Indiana for years and have sometimes caused problems. In 2014, police responded to dozens of calls amid crowded borough streets, including hundreds packing one street and getting into brawls that were filmed and later posted online. In 2017, two off-campus shootings were reported.
A floor collapsed at an off-campus apartment building near the Indiana University of Pennsylvania injured 12 people over the weekend.
Police responded to the Elm by Traverse Commons on Copper Beech Drive in White Township around 11:50 p.m. Saturday. The second floor of the building had collapsed while people were inside.
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Police told sister station WTAE that it’s unclear how many people were in the apartment, but all occupants were able to get out.
They say 12 people were treated by paramedics on the scene. Seven of those 12 people were transported to the hospital and at least one person was taken to the hospital by private means. Injuries ranged from minor to serious.
Trooper Cliff Greenfield said responding troopers found one person lying in the road and others grouped outside the three-story building and reported that a floor inside had collapsed.
“We saw peoples’ legs all bleeding and cut,” said Kara Banda, who lives a few doors down from the party.
Banda called 911 after the collapse.
“We heard a really loud crash,” Banda said. “We looked outside and they were smashing out the bottom windows.”
Greenfield said some people were hurt as they tried to escape through the first-floor window.
“We talked to the neighbor and he said that he was laying in his bed and the ceiling fell on top of him,” Banda said.
Banda told WTAE that as of Sunday afternoon, she had not received any communication from her apartment’s management about the floor collapse. WTAE reached out to the management company, but a request for comment was not returned.
The building was secured so no one can enter, and Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 crews observed windows being boarded up Sunday.
It’s unclear what led to the collapse.
Greenfield said it’s unclear how many of those involved were university students or guests visiting during what has been dubbed “IUPatty’s weekend,” a delayed St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Corryn Miller, an IUP junior, said a few of her friends attended the party. Miller and her boyfriend were listening to a police scanner when they heard dispatchers communicating about the collapse.
“When you hear the location and know that you have people that are up there that you might know, it’s definitely much more of a concern,” Miller said.
IUP spokesperson Michelle Fryling said the university is pledging support to those affected, including short-term housing to those affected, if needed.
The off-campus festivities have taken place in Indiana for years and have sometimes caused problems. In 2014, police responded to dozens of calls amid crowded borough streets, including hundreds packing one street and getting into brawls that were filmed and later posted online. In 2017, two off-campus shootings were reported.
