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Nineteen people, including three children, were released from the hospital after being injured in a collapse of the multi-level bridge on Saturday night in Wildwood, officials said.
The incident occurred around 18 hours. in a condo complex located in block 200 East East Baker Avenue.
A total of 21 people injured during the collapse were taken to the Cape May Regional Health System, said hospital spokeswoman Susan Staeger. Nineteen of these were treated and discharged from the hospital at 2330 hours. Two of the patients were transferred to a local trauma center.
The AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center trauma center in Atlantic City has received three patients, said hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Tornetta. She declined to comment on the status of the victims.
At a press conference Sunday morning, Daniel F. Speigel, Fire Chief of Wildwood, said the relief operations had been expedited, the first responders gathered in the area to attend the convention and parade the firefighters from the state of New Jersey.
"Whoever it was, I wanted to send them a cry of thanks for helping us get the victims fired," said Speigel. "All the victims were abducted in less than an hour and transported (to the hospital), which is pretty phenomenal."
He said that there was no reported deaths.
Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for
Police are investigating a collapse of the bridge in Wildwood on Sunday, September 15, 2019. About 21 people were injured, including several firefighters, when several bridges collapsed in a residential building in Wildwood on Saturday night.
Officials stated that the second and third storey bridges of the seven-unit condominium complex "suffered a complete crepe-type collapse.
Emergency officers, many of them firefighters, were trying to lift one of the bridges. Several people were trapped under the collapsed bridges, Speigel said.
He said members of the Wildwood Fire Department and Construction Bureau worked with building owners, engineers and contractors to secure an unsupported roof.
Municipal officials did not explain what caused the collapse.
A woman who witnessed the incident from the porch of the Newport hotel said that about eight to ten people had gathered on each bridge after their collapse. She said the middle bridge had collapsed first, followed by the third floor.
"The screaming sounded like a walk in an amusement park," said the woman, who did not want to be identified. "But it sounded much worse."
She said she saw a man on the first floor trying to hold the second floor deck with one hand. She also saw two women jump from one of the upper decks, then run into the street shouting.
On Sunday, about fifteen people gathered near the place where the bridge collapsed, while others came and went to spot the wreckage.
Lou Catarro, 67, of Wildwood, said the building was originally from apartments built in the 1930s and then converted into condos. Property records indicate that the new construction took place in 2004.
Photographer Tim Hawk contributed to this report.
Alex Napoliello can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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