The Slatest

Ceiling of London’s Apollo Theatre Collapses on Packed House Injuring Dozens

Police and fire crews outside the Apollo Theatre on Thursday.

Photo by Mary Turner/Getty Images

On Thursday night, the ceiling of London’s Apollo Theatre started making “a crackling” noise before collapsing mid-performance on the theatregoers below. As the ceiling began to crumble into the packed audience, CNN reports, one of the actors yelled “Watch out!” to the audience, who thought it was part of the play. The collapsing ceiling brought parts of the balconies down with it, according to officials. Maria Smith, who was one of the first emergency officials on the scene told the BBC: “When I arrived it was dark and extremely dusty and people were lying on the floor of the theatre. Fire officials say 700-plus people were in the audience of the play The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time when the ceiling began to fall from the 112-year-old theatre. The BBC reports “a total of 58 people were taken to hospital but there were no life-threatening injuries.”