Church roof collapses during Easter services in New Jersey, injuring 15

Church roof collapses during Easter services in New Jersey, injuring 15

Congregants were in the middle of a song when they heard cracking overhead and debris began to fall.

A total of 15 people have been hospitalized after a church roof collapsed during Easter services on Sunday in northern New Jersey.

Congregants at the Korean Union United Methodist Church in Rahway reportedly heard a cracking sound before debris started raining down on top of them just before 2 p.m., according to NJ.com.

The injured were mostly transferred to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, with one woman in critical condition and the rest with less serious injuries.

A woman got a cut on her head from a chunk of ceiling debris that struck her, which happened when she did not heed warnings to move to the side of the room they were in for those who couldn’t get out of the church, according to the report.

It was a Pentecostal congregation that was holding the service and had rented out the church for that purpose. Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman said that “God was watching over the members of the congregation,” as it “could have been a lot worse.”

The report indicated that congregants covered in dust gathered outside the church after the incident, which happened while attendees were in the middle of a song. Once the debris started falling, people started to scream and ran for cover. A teacher told people in the building to immediately head to the sides of the room to avoid the falling debris.

The churchgoers were members of the Manantial de Vida Pentecostal congregation.

The church is located on West Grand Avenue.

All 14 of the people who had been taken to Robert Woo Johnson hospital had been released as of Sunday evening, according to the report. The woman who was in critical condition was taken to University Hospital.

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