Tent covering Bellevue skating rink collapses

Summary

The tent collapsed under the weight of snow Sunday evening, trapping ten people and injuring a young girl as parents rushed to dig their kids out from under the snow. "You just heard people screaming and calling for their kids," one witness said.

Story Published: Dec 21, 2008 at 8:53 PM PST

Story Updated: Dec 21, 2008 at 11:49 PM PST

Tent covering Bellevue skating rink collapses
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- A large tent covering the ice skating rink at Bellevue's Magic Season festival collapsed Sunday evening, briefly trapping 10 people under a pile of snow and ice.

One young girl was taken to Overlake Hospital Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries.

Parents and bystanders ran to the center of the rink and frantically dug and cut away the canopy to reached the trapped children.

"It immediately went dark because the lights went out. You just heard people screaming and calling for their kids," said one woman who there skating with her family when the supports gave way and the tent collapsed.

"The speakers... the lights, everything just dropped right on the ice."

Bellevue Police Spokesman Greg Grannis said people were skating inside under the temporary structure just after 8 p.m. when the roof gave in, likely due to the weight of snow on the roof.

The area had received over 7 inches of snow over the past weekend.

Lindsey Bogachus was skating underneath the tent when it crashed down.

"I just dove off to the side," she said. "I just remember being airborne... knowing that it was coming down."

The nine other people who were caught in the collapse were not seriously injured.

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Fisher Communications, the parent company of KOMO, is a sponsor of Bellevue Magic Season.