May 22, 2009 9:27 pm US/Eastern
34 Hurt In Brooklyn School Grate Collapse
Girls, Ages 10 To 14, Injured Outside Yeshiva Shaarei Torah Elementary School During Picture Day
Fire Officials: All Students Treated; 1 Suffers Broken Ankle
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
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A student cries after students were injured after a grate at the school collapsed during class photos on May 22, 2009, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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EMS personnel load two of the more seriously injured into ambulances after at least 36 students were hurt when a grate on which they were standing for a photo collapsed in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn, May 22, 2009.
CBS
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Emergency responders tend to the wounded after a grate on which several students were standing collapsed during a photo shoot May 22, 2009, in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn.
CBS
It's a photo session they will never forget.
Dozens of students were carried out on stretchers Friday morning after a grate suddenly collapsed during a class photo in Brooklyn.
The chaos unfolded at a private elementary school in Prospect Park South.
Outside Yeshiva Shaarei Torah Elementary School on Ocean Avenue, children were being treated and taken to area hospitals for injuries they sustained when a window-well grate collapsed.
"We didn't know it was going to happen. It just fell all of a sudden," fifth grader Michelle Massre said.
The girls, most of them ages 10 to 14, were gathered on the grate for an end-of-the-year picture.
According to girls involved, as many as 40 to 50 girls had gathered for the photo when suddenly the grate gave way.
"All of a sudden a few girls got on it and whole thing collapsed," one student said.
The girls fell 10 to 12 feet, with some children tumbling on top of the others.
"It was chaos, crying tears, but everyone was okay in the end," said Ari Klar of Hatzolah Ambulance.
The FDNY got some children out through windows down below, while the grate was cut into pieces.
"The grates were not all together, in pieces, cut chains and pulled the grate apart," Chief Tom Carrig said.
Emergency Medical Services said 34 students were treated, most of whom were taken to area hospitals for cuts and bruises, but one suffered a broken ankle.
The New York City Buildings Department blamed the accident on bad bolts.
"The bolts were worn out under the weight of the children," Buildings Department deputy commissioner Fatah Amer said.
For family members, there were anxious moments being called to the school.
"It was like my heart was like racing," one parent said.
A hectic morning that started many children's Sabbath ended with a trip to a hospital.
The school was issued a violation for failing to maintain the structure, and may be fined, but it wasn't immediately clear how much.
School officials declined to comment.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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