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Twelve people were killed and 45 others injured as a wooden porch laden with college students collapsed during a party in Chicago early Sunday, police and fire officials said.
As many as 50 people were crowded onto the top porch of a three-story apartment building when it collapsed around 12:30 a.m. local time (01:30 a.m. EDT).
Chicago Fire Commissioner James Joyce said on local television networks that the accident was "a case of too many people in a small space." He expressed concern that more porches could be overloaded Sunday as the Gay Pride Parade is held in the city.
Survivors said most of the dead party-goers were in their early 20s and many had graduated from New Trier High School in one of Chicago's northern suburbs.
Chicago Emergency Management Director Cortez Trotter described it as a "chain reaction" after the third floor porch collapsed onto the second floor, which then collapsed onto the ground-level porch.
Trotter said the decking appeared to be "fairly new" but not strong enough to support the load of people.
The rails of the wooden porch appeared to be intact although the flooring collapsed, he said.
Eleven people died at the scene and the 12th victim died later at a local hospital and at least 10 of the injured were in critical condition, television reports said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2003)
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