NewsNational News

Actions

Family hospitalized after deck collapses at Emerald Isle beach house

Posted at 9:26 PM, Jul 04, 2015
and last updated 2015-07-05 16:19:50-04

EMERALD ISLE, NC — Officials say that 17 have been released from the hospital and six others remain hospitalized after a second-story deck collapsed at a beach house on Emerald Isle on the Fourth of July.

Officials said it happened sometime before 7 p.m. at a beach-front home in the 4300 block of Ocean Drive on Emerald Isle in Carteret County.

WNCT reported that a large group of people were on the deck posing for a family photo when the floor dropped out from beneath their feet. The victims, who witnesses said were a family visiting from Virginia, fell about 10 feet to the ground.

Carteret General Hospital officials said Sunday afternoon that the hospital originally treated 23 patients.

However, by Sunday afternoon 17 of those victims had been released. Officials said the remaining six victims, who were earlier described as being in critical condition, were transferred to other facilities. According to a spokesperson's earlier update, at least one of those critical patients was a child.

However, by late Sunday afternoon, the hospital had not released the conditions of the transferred patients.

Neighbors sprang into action moments after they realized something had gone terribly wrong.

"I heard horrible screams," said neighbor Lisa Hahn. "Not so much of the wood going down or the house - the deck going down, but more of the screams. And my husband just came running in, 'Call 911.'"

A tweet from WNCN showed a med-flight helicopter flying away from the scene. Additionally, reports indicated a triage station was set up at Salter Path Ball Park.

Photos of what remains of the floor show wooden beams splintered in a pile of rubble beneath where the deck once stood.

Authorities have not released the victims' names and the family is asking for privacy.

Scroll down for updates on this story.