Ten people were hurt when a toy block display fell onto spectators at a family-oriented New Year's event at a Peabody, Massachusetts, arcade on Tuesday, fire officials said. The incident was caught on video.
All 10 of the injuries were minor, according to Peabody Fire Chief John Dowling, but eight people, five of them children, were taken to local hospitals; two declined to go.
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The collapse took place while employees at the arcade, In the Game on Lowell Street, were trying to conduct a "Noon Year's Eve" balloon drop, the fire chief told NBC10 Boston. That knocked over what he described as a Lego display, which fell about 12 feet onto people.
Peabody police said that the display was pulled down by the balloons.
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A representative for In The Game's ownership group told NBC10 Boston the team was working with authorities and referred further questions to the Peabody Fire Department.
Video obtained by NBC10 Boston shows a large crowd of people, including kids, underneath a net full of balloons. A large, gray display, apparently depicting a video game arcade machine, tips over, spilling onto people below. Some people screamed.
Keegan Oblenes said it took a moment for people in the crowd, including the 13-year-old himself, to figure out what happened, and that people were hurt.
"I didn't know anybody was hurt until after," Keegan said. "Then I was sort of worried and everybody started clearing out and then an ambulance showed up. And a fire truck. And then the stretcher came out."
Tickets for the event were sold out, according to a listing online. There was a "Happy Noon Years" sign over a entrance to the building Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters called to the scene initially feared a roof collapse. They believed as of Tuesday afternoon that the display fell over because kids in the crowd were pulling on the netting that contained the balloons.
"I don't think they they've done it many times before and just, things happen and thankfully it wasn't bad," Deputy Fire Chief Dan Dean said.
