Ceiling Collapses During Service At Hickory Church

HICKORY, N.C.,None — A portion of the ceiling at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, located in Hickory, collapsed Sunday.

Firefighters said part of the ceiling fell into the church's sanctuary, injuring several people. Twelve people were taken to area hospitals for treatment.

RAW VIDEO: Ceiling Collapses During Service At Hickory Church

They have all been released and are expected to be OK.

It happened during Sunday services just after noon.

"We were celebrating, having a good time at church, then all of a sudden somebody said, 'The ceiling is coming down,'" church member Charlotte Scott said.

SLIDESHOW: Church Ceiling Collapses, 12 Injured

About 200 people were inside the building when the 40-foot section of the ceiling came crashing down.

"Everything was normal at first, then all of a sudden, [there] was a kaboom," church member Marco Culbreath said. "Everybody was running; some people [were] on the ground [and] some people fell. I just grabbed my family and ran out."

"The bottom just fell out," Pastor Antonio Logan said. "My jaw just dropped. What in the world just happened? How to respond? Most people [were] running out the exit."

Fire and building inspectors don't yet know exactly what caused the collapse. They said their top priority is figuring out whether the ceiling had asbestos. Once that is determined, they can work on what caused it to fall.

Results from asbestos testing won't be available for at least 48 hours.

A Catawba County building inspector has deemed the building unsafe for occupancy for the time being.

The church was built in 1957 and was last inspected in 1996 after an addition was built. In 2003, a new heating and air system was installed at the church. That unit sits in the attic, above the area where the ceiling crashed down.

City building inspectors said, at this point, they don't know if it was the added weight of the unit or something else that caused the collapse.

WSOC