30 injured after the ground collapse at Clemson Clubhouse, South Carolina

Thirty people were injured when the floor of a clubhouse collapsed during an evening at Woodlands Apartments in South Carolina, the Clemson City Police Department announced.

Police received a call Sunday at 12:30 pm and responded to the apartment complex on Old Greenville Highway. The police arrived to find more than two dozen wounded, although no one was trapped and none of them would threaten life, the police said.

Larissa Stone, a sophomore student from Clemson University, said she arrived at the party about 20 minutes before the ground collapsed. She said a song played that "a lot of people liked it."

"So everyone was jumping in. The pace was about to fall and all the ground had collapsed," she said. "It happened so fast, I got up and everyone was trying to get out, people are under the others, people are hurt, people are bleeding, I had blood on my sneakers. It was really terrible. "

Police said that a group had rented the clubhouse for a private party.

"It was packed," Stone says. "That many people should not have been there."

Joe Galbraith, Associate Vice President of Strategic Communications at Clemson University, confirmed that the party was organized by the Clemson Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

He stated that the group organized an annual homecoming event and that it was not unusual for a student organization to hold an off-campus event in an institution like this in the community. ".

He said the university was trying to identify the affected students and ensure that their families and teachers were informed and that they were aware of the academic resources available to them.

Resident Victoria Stokes, who has lived in the apartment for about a year, described the chaotic scene that followed the collapse. Stokes said he saw people being taken out of the building with lawn chairs.

Stokes was not at the party, but called the apartment complex calm. She said the party was noisy, but did not think about it because it was the weekend back home.

The Woodlands of Clemson is a "community of condominium-style townhouses and gardens," according to its website. The complex, which is approximately three miles from Clemson University, includes both students and non-students.

Tal Slann, president of Woodlands Management of Clemson, Inc., e-mailed residents Sunday morning.

As you all know, there was a party at the clubhouse last night. This party caused a collapse of the floor structure in front of the pavilion chimney. The clubhouse and the pool are out of bounds for everyone. The clubhouse will be inspected by structural engineers as soon as possible. From there, the homeowners' association will determine how to rebuild the clubhouse to make it safe for all residents. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been hurt and we apologize for any inconvenience.

According to the "Community Rules and Regulations" addendum posted on the Complex's website, "the tenant indemnifies the landlord and his agent, and exempts the landlord and his agent from any bodily injury claim suffered by the tenant, his family and his guest in their use and enjoyment. pool or other facilities provided in the Community. "

Clemson University officials were informed of the incident early Sunday morning and were still gathering information about what had happened.

The complex includes student and non-student residents. Slann explained that the complex does not belong to a company and that the owners' association manages all the shared spaces, including the clubhouse.

Kappa Alpha Psi, the fraternity that hosts the party, was cited by the university in 2017 for organizing an event in an off-campus rental during which "damage was caused to the property". The fraternity was required to submit to the university documents indicating that the owners had been reimbursed and had to organize an educational session for all chapters of the National Panhellenic Council in Clemson ", in order to present the policy fraternity and sorority, including the need for policy and how it can be applied to the social functions of the NPHC. "

According to the university's report on behavioral cases, the chapter met these requirements and the problem had been solved in the same month, April 27, 2017.

The wounded were transported to hospitals in the area by the emergency medical services of Clemson University, Pickens County and Med Shore. Clemson University Fire coordinated the efforts.

Contribution: Jason Clary, Independent Anderson Mail

Follow Mollie R. Simon on Twitter: @ mrsimon22