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Religious fanatics destroy church in British Columbia
Hell opened up and swallowed them. 
The collapse of an Abbotsford church's floor during a Friday night concert could have been triggered by vibrations from dancing concertgoers, a structural engineering expert says.
Around 9:15 p.m. a seven-metre-square hole opened up, dumping dozens of people five metres into the church basement and sending more than 40 to hospital.
"It [the floor] likely wasn't built for dancing," said Steve Taylor, a structural engineering instructor at the University of British Columbia.
Young people were attending a concert by the Christian rock band, Starfield, at the church when the floor gave way under the 70 people dancing in front of the stage. Furniture fell on top of some of the victims and they were drenched by water from burst pipes. Most suffered minor injuries. A 41-year-old woman is still in hospital after undergoing surgery for head and spinal injuries. She is listed in stable condition.
According to the National Building Code, a hall used for events at which people would be dancing requires the floor to hold twice the weight of the building, Mr. Taylor said. The code says a floor constructed for dancing needs to be able to support 489 kilograms of force per square metre. One with fixed seating, such as bolted down pews, can hold 244 kilograms of force per square metre if the seating covers 80 per cent of the floor.
Pastor Chris Douglas from the Central Heights Church said the bolts securing the pews to the floor had been undone.
"It's so we can pick them up and move them," he said. He has also said an engineer investigating the incident told him one joist may have initially failed, causing the rest to give way.
Mr. Taylor said he still finds it hard to believe the floor would collapse from people merely standing on it. However, he said if the hundreds of people who were at the concert were all jumping in unison to the rhythm of the music, the pressure on the floor would have been significantly increased and that could have contributed to the collapse.
Many people at Friday night's concert said the crowd was doing just that during an upbeat song when the floor failed.
Mr. Taylor said the incident could repeat itself at another church concert.
"I think it's pretty likely it could happen again," he said. "Your average guy taking a pew out of a church doesn't realize he could be causing a structural failure."
According to Mr. Douglas, the church has held large concerts before. The overall capacity of the building is almost 2,000. The capacity for the main floor alone is 1,083 and another 900 people can be accommodated in the balcony. There were about 1,200 people at Friday's concert, in the balcony and on the main floor.
Jay Teichroeb of the city of Abbotsford said the capacity for the 22-year-old church was last set in 1998. However, Mr. Teichroeb said, it was determined by the fire department in case of a fire, not structural safety. Investigators are still trying to determine what happened, he said.
"We've retained a structural engineer to look at the building," he said. "The investigation is in its early stages and we had inspectors looking at it on the weekend."
Mr. Teichroeb said he wasn't sure how long the investigation could take.
Around 9:15 p.m. a seven-metre-square hole opened up, dumping dozens of people five metres into the church basement and sending more than 40 to hospital.
"It [the floor] likely wasn't built for dancing," said Steve Taylor, a structural engineering instructor at the University of British Columbia.
Young people were attending a concert by the Christian rock band, Starfield, at the church when the floor gave way under the 70 people dancing in front of the stage. Furniture fell on top of some of the victims and they were drenched by water from burst pipes. Most suffered minor injuries. A 41-year-old woman is still in hospital after undergoing surgery for head and spinal injuries. She is listed in stable condition.
According to the National Building Code, a hall used for events at which people would be dancing requires the floor to hold twice the weight of the building, Mr. Taylor said. The code says a floor constructed for dancing needs to be able to support 489 kilograms of force per square metre. One with fixed seating, such as bolted down pews, can hold 244 kilograms of force per square metre if the seating covers 80 per cent of the floor.
Pastor Chris Douglas from the Central Heights Church said the bolts securing the pews to the floor had been undone.
"It's so we can pick them up and move them," he said. He has also said an engineer investigating the incident told him one joist may have initially failed, causing the rest to give way.
Mr. Taylor said he still finds it hard to believe the floor would collapse from people merely standing on it. However, he said if the hundreds of people who were at the concert were all jumping in unison to the rhythm of the music, the pressure on the floor would have been significantly increased and that could have contributed to the collapse.
Many people at Friday night's concert said the crowd was doing just that during an upbeat song when the floor failed.
Mr. Taylor said the incident could repeat itself at another church concert.
"I think it's pretty likely it could happen again," he said. "Your average guy taking a pew out of a church doesn't realize he could be causing a structural failure."
According to Mr. Douglas, the church has held large concerts before. The overall capacity of the building is almost 2,000. The capacity for the main floor alone is 1,083 and another 900 people can be accommodated in the balcony. There were about 1,200 people at Friday's concert, in the balcony and on the main floor.
Jay Teichroeb of the city of Abbotsford said the capacity for the 22-year-old church was last set in 1998. However, Mr. Teichroeb said, it was determined by the fire department in case of a fire, not structural safety. Investigators are still trying to determine what happened, he said.
"We've retained a structural engineer to look at the building," he said. "The investigation is in its early stages and we had inspectors looking at it on the weekend."
Mr. Teichroeb said he wasn't sure how long the investigation could take.
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