Authorities said 10 people were hurt after a LEGO display fell onto a crowd that included kids and adults at a Massachusetts arcade.
The incident took place at In the Game on Lowell Street in Peabody, Mass., on Tuesday, Dec. 31, said the Peabody Police Department in a Facebook post.
“Earlier today, a display was pulled down by balloons attached to it, causing it to fall,” wrote the department. “Ten individuals sustained minor injuries. Eight were transported to the hospital for treatment, while two refused medical transport.”
According to In the Game’s websitethe event was advertised as a noon kickoff party to the new year that included a balloon drop and confetti shower.
In a phone interview following the incident, Peabody Fire Chief John Dowling tells PEOPLE that his department initially received a report about a ceiling collapse at In the Game about 12:07 p.m., local time. Later, the first arriving unit said that it was not a structural collapse but a LEGO display situated on a balcony that fell.
CBS affiliate WBZ described the LEGO display as measuring 8 feet tall.
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“They (the In the Game employees) were trying to release balloons that were all up on a big net,” Dowling tells PEOPLE. “The net was not releasing and I think that’s when they started pulling on harder that caused the LEGO structure to collapse onto a large group of people.”
A Facebook user posted footage that apparently shows the moment the netting containing the balloons dropped and followed by a loud thud from the display crashing down, The Boston Globe reported.
“Oh my God!” one person could be heard saying in the clip.
“Large LEGO pieces were everywhere, kids were crying, there were tons of people all in the office some with ice packs over their heads and people allowing their children to steal the Lego pieces like souvenirs,” Lawren Turco, who was at the event with her family, told WBZ. “It was pure chaos. I had no idea of the true events until after the incident.”
Dowling confirms that the 10 people – four adults and six children – who suffered minor injuries had cuts and scrapes.
The fire chief also says In the Game reopened after fire authorities left the scene 35 minutes later. Dowling describes what happened as accidental.
In an email to PEOPLE on Dec. 31, a spokesperson for In the Game said the company is “working with authorities as the situation is being assessed.”
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