Dozens hurt in collapse of deck during wedding celebration in Langley, B.C.

LANGLEY, B.C. – Police say dozens of people were injured, some critically, when the second storey deck of a home in Langley, B.C., collapsed Friday evening during a wedding celebration.

RCMP Cpl. Craig Van Herk said 911 calls started flooding in around 5:45 p.m. local time reporting multiple injuries at a home on 268th Street.

Van Herk said police, the B.C. Ambulance Service and local firefighters all responded to the scene where they found 35 to 40 injured people ranging in age from children to the elderly.

He said one person was transported by air ambulance to hospital in critical condition, while possibly two others, also critical, were taken to hospital in road ambulances. Van Herk added that nearly 20 people had suffered serious injuries, while 12 to 15 others were treated in hospital for minor injuries.

Van Herk said there were more than 100 people at the party, however, it wasn't immediately known how many were on the deck when it fell.

He noted that it was a "fairly dynamic, complex situation" as first responders arrived to find so many injured people. He said investigators would return Saturday to try to determine the cause of the collapse.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

Shelby Thevenot

Shelby has lived across Canada. She grew up near Winnipeg, Manitoba then obtained her B.F.A in Multidisciplinary Fine Arts at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 2014 she moved to Montreal, Quebec to study French and thrived in the Visual Journalism Graduate Diploma program at Concordia University. Now she works at iNFO News where she strives to get the stories that matter to the Okanagan Valley community.

Member of:

The Professional Writers Association of Canada

Quebec Writers Federation

English Language Arts Network