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At least 3 dead after pier collapses at Philadelphia dance club
From staff and wire reports
PHILADELPHIA -- A newly opened dance club located on a pier in South Philadelphia collapsed Thursday night, sending dozens of people into the Delaware River, killing three people.
At least 41 people were rescued from the water, said Coast Guard spoksman Greg Adams. Six people remained in an on-site, makeshift triage unit, and three others with more serious injuries were taken to area hospitals, he said.
A massive search-and-rescue operation was under way with helicopters, boats and divers looking for possible survivors from the collapse, which happened at 8:05 p.m. Police helicopters using thermal-imaging cameras were searching the waters.
"We just went out there and it was like, the club fell into the water," said Ron Del Mundo, chef at the Moshulu restaurant, which is located on a boat that was moored to the pier.
A witness to the collapse said, "All of a sudden without any warning or anything we saw the end of the banquet hall just fall in, and it was just falling in and my friend was running toward me trying to push me up and basically the whole club, the whole club that was on the pier, just sank and broke up."
"It just like sucked me under," said Sean Prosser, who was at the club with his relatives when it collapsed. "Freaked me out, because I can't swim."
He said he held on to debris in the water before being rescued and that others floated down the river clinging to debris and were rescued by the Coast Guard.
The pier collapsed underneath a bar where many of the patrons had crowded, Prosser said.
The pier was part of an entertainment and dining complex. Del Mundo said the dance club was called Heat.
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