New Year goes awry as dance floor caves in

Tuesday, January 1, 2008 (Chennai)The New Year eve revelry took a nightmarish turn for some 40 people in a Chennai hotel when a makeshift wooden platform they were dancing on, caved in and they fell right into a 12 feet deep swimming pool. Six people were rushed to a local hospital and are out of danger.

Priya Ravichandran, District Fire Officer, South Chennai said, ''Six people drowned but four were rescued by the hotel and we rescued two. There are no casualties. They were given first aid and are fine.''

But even as the hotel had made all arrangements to entertain huge crowds at this New Year's bash, what they clearly seem to have missed out are the safety precautions.

''We paid Rs 3000 for a good New Year's night and what we get is a broken floor. We were under water and were screaming and no one to help us,'' said one of the injured.

''They should have never built it on a swimming pool. They should have used mud or net down the floor. So that if people had fallen they would have fallen on the mud or net without getting hurt.''

One of them present at the party said, ''When they sold tickets they should have known that the crowd is more and they should have taken their measures.''

For the people who had come here to celebrate their New Year, this proved to be a nightmarish experience. Even worse, the hotel management has refused to comment or even accept responsibility.

Courtesy:ndtv.com
Complete artical HERE