At least 30 injured as floor collapses at university fraternity party in South Carolina

Students plunge into basement as dance floor gives way

Dozens of students were taken to hospital after a floor collapsed at a Clemson University fraternity party in South Carolina on Saturday night.

At least 30 people were injured when the centre of the dance floor caved in and party-goers dropped into the basement below.

Police said none of the injuries sustained by the students were life-threatening, but several of the victims suffered broken bones.

Some witnesses lucky enough to be standing on the space around the centre of the floor filmed the collapse on their phones.

“The beat was about to drop and literally the whole floor collapsed,” sophomore student Larissa Stone told The Anderson Independent-Mail.

“It happened so quickly. I stood up, and everyone was trying to climb out. People are under other people. People are hurt. People are bleeding. I had blood on my sneakers. It was really bad.”

Leroy Pearson told CBS affiliate WSPA-TV: “I’m jumping, I had my hands in the air and I can feel myself falling. Then I wake up, because I blacked out, and there [were] girls everywhere with blood all over their face.”

The Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity held its annual homecoming party on Saturday night at an event space inside the Woodlands of Clemson apartment complex near the university campus.

Property manager Tal Slann said he could not comment on whether there was a limit on the number of people supposed to use the event space at one time.

Clemson police said they would be investigating the cause of the floor collapse.

University president Jim Clements tweeted: “I’m monitoring the situation, and my thoughts and prayers are with all who were injured. Our entire student support system will be available for any student impacted.”