17 children, adult rushed to hospital after elevated platform collapses on school field trip

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This article was published 31/05/2023 (1151 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Almost 30 people, mostly children, were assessed for injuries after an elevated platform collapsed during a school field trip at Fort Gibraltar in St. Boniface Wednesday morning.

Seventeen kids and one adult were taken to the Health Sciences Centre campus, which declared a “code orange” — a disaster occurring outside the hospital — after a group from St. John’s-Ravenscourt School fell from a height of between four and six metres at about 10 a.m., according to emergency officials.

“It could have been so, so much worse. We were prepared for the worst,” Dr. Karen Gripp, medical director of Children’s Hospital’s emergency department, told a news conference outside the facility.

Three children were in unstable condition, while the rest of the patients were stable when they were taken from the scene, said Jay Shaw, an assistant chief with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Gripp said an injured boy, who required a surgical procedure for one of his fractured bones, was expected to remain in hospital overnight.

He will be released in the “very near future,” she said.

The remaining patients were expected to be sent home Wednesday.

Gripp said the children, ages 10 and 11, mostly suffered orthopedic injuries, including broken bones, with none of them severe or life-threatening.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation.

Festival du Voyageur, which owns and operates Fort Gibraltar, said the site will be closed for an undetermined period of time.

Student Tameem Aljafari, 10, was among those who fell while a group walked along the platform at the national historic site in Whittier Park.

Aljafari said about 30 people, mostly children, were on the structure when it collapsed.

“We were going and then the bridge starts cracking and then it falls down,” he told reporters outside Children’s Hospital. “There was a teacher and two kids that fell down from the bridge. I think everybody just piled on them and they fell straight down.”

Photos taken by a Free Press photographer show two collapsed sections of wooden platform surrounded by yellow caution tape.

Aljafari escaped with minor injuries, including scratches. He said there was confusion when everyone fell.

“I couldn’t breathe because my back was hurting. When I inhaled it hurt a lot,” he said.

Aljafari said three Grade 5 classes from SJR went on the trip.

The private, independent co-ed school is located on South Drive in the city’s Wildwood Park neighbourhood.

Parents rushed to Children’s Hospital after receiving phone calls or learning about the incident from other sources.

Meng Meng said someone phoned to tell her that her 10-year-old daughter was injured in the fall.

Meng was told children and a teacher were on the platform when it collapsed.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s so scary,” she said outside the hospital.

The mother said her daughter, who was “very excited” to visit the fort, was being checked for injuries, including a sore hip.

“Thank God, she’s OK,” said Meng.

Archana and Niranjan Paul said they didn’t receive a call, but went to the hospital to find out if their 10-year-old son was among the injured, after learning of the incident.

They were informed he wasn’t in the emergency department, but they didn’t know where he was as of 1 p.m. They believed he was among the children who were taken back to the school.

SJR head of school Jim Keefe said parents or families of the 17 people who went to hospital were notified after the incident.

The rest of the students and adults returned to the school, where counsellors were on hand.

“We are doing everything we can to support our Grade 5 students and teachers and their families, and ask that you respect our privacy at this difficult time,” said Keefe.

Incident commander Michelle Bessas, a paramedic operations platoon chief with WFPS, said 28 patients were assessed at the scene.

Sixteen kids were taken to Children’s Hospital’s emergency department. The adult was taken to HSC’s emergency room.

Six ambulances transported patients who had more serious injuries, said Bessas.

The rest were transported in a major incident response vehicle, which is a bus-sized mobile trauma treatment facility.

Bessas said every patient was transported from the scene within an hour.

Emergency workers were well-prepared, she said, given their training for mass-casualty incidents, which don’t happen that often.

Gripp said the emergency department at Children’s had empty rooms and staff available because it wasn’t busy at the time.

Staff dealt with the most serious injuries first.

The hospital initially prepared for as many as 30 injured people, with surgeons and operating rooms on standby, when the “code orange” was declared.

“It’s pretty much all hands on deck,” said Gripp.

She said staff were also prepared to resuscitate patients, but fortunately they did not have to do so.

Some same-day surgeries were delayed to ensure staff were available.

Gripp said she doesn’t believe the mass casualty incident had a huge impact on operations.

That said, there was a period of time when things were on hold until staff knew what they were dealing with, she said.

Shannon Muise, a mother who took her daughter to Children’s for treatment for flu-like symptoms, said it was a chaotic scene, with injured children waiting to be seen.

“It was packed in there,” she said.

Staff from the province’s Workplace Safety and Health department were conducting an investigating at the fort to help determine the cause of the collapse.

In a statement, Festival du Voyageur said it is “fully co-operating” with authorities.

“Our thoughts are with all those who are affected by this difficult, sad and extremely unfortunate situation,” the statement read. “We would like to thank first responders and personnel that responded quickly to the incident to prioritize the well-being of all those involved.

“This is a difficult time for many, and we want to ensure that respect and support for those involved is of the upmost importance.”

In a tweet, Mayor Scott Gillingham said he was “deeply concerned” about the incident.

“My thoughts are with those injured and their families,” he wrote. “Grateful for the swift response from Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Services.”

Thousands of people visit the fort during Festival du Voyageur every February.

It also used for public and school tours, weddings and other events.

The original site was a trading post built by the North West Company in 1809, but later captured and destroyed by the Selkirk Colony in 1816.

North West Company rebuilt the fort a year later, and it continued operations under Hudson’s Bay Company after a merger in 1821.

Fort Gibraltar’s name was changed to Fort Garry the following year, and 13 years later it was abandoned aside from warehouse use.

The fort was destroyed by the Red River flood in 1852. It was eventually rebuilt by Festival du Voyageur in 1978.

— With files from Erik Pindera

city.desk@freepress.mb.ca