The night was supposed to be joyful, but it quickly descended into chaos. In the 11th arrondissement of Paris, on rue Amelot, the floor of an apartment on the 5th floor of a building collapsed during a birthday celebration, late on the night from Saturday, January 17th to Sunday, January 18th, just before midnight. Authorities report that at least 20 people were injured, with one person in critical condition, according to the police prefecture and the Paris Fire Brigade (BSPP).
About fifty guests gathered to celebrate Magali’s 60th birthday when, at the moment of cutting the cake, the floor suddenly gave way, sending everyone tumbling to the floor below. "We didn’t see it coming, the entire floor collapsed in one go," a participant told RTL. Five people were buried under the debris but were quickly rescued by firefighters, who detected no other victims beneath the rubble.
One of the injured was taken into care after suffering cardiac arrest, was resuscitated on-site, and then transferred to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. Her vital prognosis is not currently at risk, according to the prefecture. The other victims mainly sustained injuries from the building collapse. Some were taken to a nearby nursing home for initial treatment, according to information from Le Parisien.
Nearly 145 firefighters and dozens of emergency vehicles were mobilized, according to Le Parisien. A security perimeter has been established around 34 bis rue Amelot, and residents of the building have been evacuated as a precaution.
The city hall is reassuring: the building’s structure remains intact. The prevailing theory is that a weakening of the floor due to simultaneous vibrations is to blame, possibly caused by group movements, as explained by Antoine Cardon, the City of Paris’s safety architect, in an interview with Le Parisien. Residents should be able to return to their homes later today.
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