Date: 23rd March 2001

Oscar Scaffolding Collapses


Five people have been rushed to hospital after scaffolding collapsed onto the ACADEMY AWARDS red carpet.

The metal podium had been constructed at The Shrine Auditorium to hold the world's media as the celebrities arrived for the ceremony this weekend (25MAR01). But as workers tried to build a sunscreen to shield the reporters from the California sun, the podium collapsed, causing five workers to be rushed to the city's Good Samaritan hospital.

JOHN PAVLIK, the Academy spokesman, says, "A sunscreen which was being built on the west side of the arrival area for reasons unknown collapsed and the section that fell was 40 wide and 120 feet long." One of the construction workers is now in a critical condition. An investigation has been launched into the cause of the collapse. (MB/WNV/PDD)

Source: WENN