A bride and groom spent their wedding night in hospital after the venue floor collapsed, sending them plummeting 13 feet
Newlyweds spent their first night in hospital after the floor of their wedding venue collapsed.
39 guests needed medical attention, including a pregnant woman who also fell through the floor.
Witnesses told local media that the venue was enveloped in dust and guests became panicked.
A bride and groom spent their wedding day in the hospital after a section of a historic venue in Tuscany collapsed on Saturday night.
Paolo Mugnaini and his Italian-American bride Valeria Ybarra, both 26, had hosted some 150 people for their wedding at the former Giaccherino convent in Pistoia, Italy, according to the local publication Corriere Fiorentino.
According to the newspaper, a little before 8 p.m., as the 60 or so remaining attendees were dancing, the floor collapsed, sending guests, along with the newlyweds, plummeting through the floor.
MailOnline reported that the guests fell 13 feet.
The groom, Mugnaini, told doctors "everyone was happy" before the floor unexpectedly gave in, according to Corriere della Sera.
"Suddenly, I found myself in another dimension, in the dark, in the void," he said, per Corriere della Sera. "In a moment, I heard bodies falling on me, along with rubble of all kinds, dust, splinters."
According to the newspaper, he said he saw his best friend with a bloody wound on his head, and he started calling out for his new wife, fearing the rubble had buried her.
The couple was reunited and admitted to a nearby hospital, where they were both treated for bruises.
According to the local health authority, they were discharged a few hours later.
From their adjoining hospital beds, the couple told the news outlet Il Messaggero: "We were very scared."
According to a news release by Tuscany's local health authority, 39 people needed medical treatment.
The local health authority reported more severe injuries among the guests, with 28 individuals still in the hospital the next day.
Two were in intensive care, including a child, though their conditions were not life-threatening, it said.
Several guests were being assessed for potential broken bones, and a pregnant woman who fell was being investigated by obstetricians and gynecologists, the local health authority said.
A waitress at the event, identified only as Genny, told Il Messaggero that the venue was enveloped in dust, making it hard to see the full scale of the disaster.
"We heard screams and desperate people crying," she told the newspaper.
The owners of the venue told local publication Report Pistoia that they don't understand how the collapse happened, describing it as a "tragic and unpredictable event."
They added that they would cooperate with any investigations into the incident.
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