balcony

Oct. 18 (UPI) — At least 10 people were taken to hospitals, including one with life-threatening injuries, after an apartment’s balcony collapsed near the University of Cincinnati, the city’s fire department said.

The collapse occurred at 10 p.m. Friday in the city’s Corryville neighborhood, firefighters said, according to WLWT-TV.

The balcony, which was 8 feet by 12 feet, fell about 20 feet into the pavement because of too many people, the fire department said.

Most of the victims were taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, about a half mile away.

Besides the life-threatening injury, four were described by the fire department as serious.

Deputy Fire Chief Nicholas Caliguri said “other victims may have self-transported to area hospitals.”

Some of the victims were UC students, fire department spokeswoman Lindsay Haegele.

“We want to assure you that the situation is being addressed with the highest priority,” said a letter to residents by Dayton-based Eclipse Community Management, which manages condominium and homeowners associations.

Students were celebrating after passing an exam, WXIX-TV reported.

Hamilton County’s Division of Buildings and Inspections was notified.

One neighbor told the Cincinnati Enquirer he saw 40 to 50 people on the street before the collapse.

In November 2019, one person died and others were injured when a six-floor building under construction in downtown Cincinnati partially collapsed.

Will Hannington plunged 40ft from the balcony at his hotel in Dubrovnik, Croatia, during a holiday with friends – and he “smashed” his femur, fractured his rib and vertebrae

A desperate mother has had to take out a £15,000 loan to get her son home after he plummeted 40ft from a hotel balcony – despite having travel insurance.

Sarah Hannington’s son Will, 23, slipped on the “damp” surface as he attempted to pass something to his mate’s balcony next door during a break with friends in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Will, a furniture delivery worker, plummeted from the fourth floor of the hotel, “smashing” his femur, fractured his rib and vertebrae and damaged his kidneys and spinal cord.

Family say Will’s life was saved by “the fortune of falling on a small bush” but he needed a five-hour operation at a Croatian hospital to have a metal road inserted into his femur. Will, from Basildon, Essex, then woke up in intensive care.

After recovering, Sarah helped arrange Will to return home in a private ambulance – travelling around 1,400 miles across eight countries for 30 hours – and he is now at a London hospital. However, Sarah, 52, had to take out the loan to hire the transport because Will’s insurance company – which the family doesn’t want to name – denied his injury claim and classed it as “self-risk behaviour”.

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Fortunately, Sarah was able to use her son’s European Health Insurance Card [EHIC] to cover Croatian surgery costs and his stay in intensive care, which cost another 15,000 euros (£13,000).

But the NHS worker remains furious with the insurance provider, insisting the hotel itself ruled out any inappropriate behaviour and supported Will’s case. Sarah, also from Basildon, continued: “It made me angry [that the claim was denied] because I had lost a week to get him home.

“He had his EHIC and insurance and did everything you were meant to do as a sensible person. An accident is an accident and you’d think it would be covered but it wasn’t. It made me wonder what the point of having holiday insurance was.

“When I got in touch with the insurance company, I just thought we’d be able to get Will home but after a week they declined the claim on the basis that they saw it as self-risk behaviour. It had been ruled out by the hotel that he wasn’t being silly and it was an accident and they had sent off their risk report to the insurance company.”

A GoFundMe has been created to help Sarah repay the loan. The mum of two said she had no choice but to take the loan as, since flying was unsafe, there was no alternative for Will to travel home from Croatia last month.

But Sarah, who works for the NHS, is relieved Will survived the horror – describing the situation as “a miracle.” He is set to undergo further surgery and extensive physiotherapy in the UK. He has now movement in his right leg or left foot.

Recalling the ordeal, Sarah said: “Will video called me in the early hours of the morning to tell me what had happened. I didn’t realise the height he had fallen from [at first]. He was in shock, distress and pain and he was putting a brave face on for me.

“It wasn’t just a broken leg. It was an intense fall. I prayed to God that I still had a son. It’s a miracle he’s alive. I’m glad he had his EHIC as this allowed him to be treated as a national in the country. The intensive care and surgery cost ran into 15,000 euros on its own so if we didn’t have the EHIC we would be facing this too.

“We came back to the UK via ambulance across eight countries and it took 30 hours. I went with him and it felt like a never-ending journey and he was in a considerable amount of pain. When we crossed over from the Channel Tunnel I cried as I was so happy to have him back in the UK.”

A family friend set up the GoFundMe page, unbeknown to Sarah. The mum continued: “We are just looking forward now and hoping he’ll be able to walk again and make a full recovery and go back to work. If you’re going to go to a European destination you need to have an EHIC and check the small print in your insurance.”

To donate to the appeal, visit this link.

Holidaymakers Lee and Mandy Trivett were looking forward to relaxing on their ‘deluxe’ Ayia Napa balcony with a nice cup of tea. Instead, they were left staring out at the ‘view from hell’

A couple looking forward to a “peaceful, relaxing” holiday were left dismayed after realising they were staring out at the “view from hell”.

Lee and Mandy Trivett spent £2,215 on a holiday at Tasia Maris Hotel in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, wanting a break from daily life after the deaths of several friends.

Looking ahead to their a six-night stay with Jet2 last summer, Lee and Mandy, both 58, had hoped to spend their mornings sipping coffee on the ‘deluxe’ balcony, switching to a nice cup of tea and biscuits at night.

Unfortunately, their dreams were quickly punctured after they realised the view from their balcony was anything but serene. An alfresco cuppa would be completely out of the question.

Instead, the Trivetts allegedly found themselves looking out onto a noisy building site, complete with scaffolding, netting and forklifts rumbling all day long.

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Lee, from Hull, Yorkshire, recalled: “When we got to the hotel at about one o’clock in the morning we thought it looked beautiful. We were exhausted so we just dumped the cases, brushed our teeth and went to bed.

“In the morning, we got up and opened the curtains to go on the balcony. It was just looking over a building site. I was absolutely shocked.

“There were forklifts going up and down and there were workmen going in and a generator on all day and all night, which you could hear through the double glazing.”

The home support worker continued: “It got worse as by the end, there were more and more workmen coming on the site. We hadn’t been informed that this work was going on.

“We couldn’t even sit out on the balcony. The last thing you wanted to look at was that. When I was talking to people in the hotel, we were originally led to believe nobody worked on the building site through the summertime. But that wasn’t very accurate.”

Jet2 has claimed that guests were made to tick a box saying they “understood” building work was “taking place nearby” and so the Trevitts should have been aware of what was going. The company has also claimed that its team “made multiple attempts to contact Mr Trevitt” on the holiday but did not get a response.

However, the couple claim this only happened after they were already four days into their week-long holiday.

Lee and Mandy, who works as a seamstress, says they were left feeling as though they’d “wasted their money”. They’ve claimed that nobody had mentioned the building work to them prior to the trip being booked, and say the situation wasn’t made apparent by looking at photos online.

According to Lee: “Me and my wife had booked it relatively late as a couple of our friends had passed away early in the year so we felt like we needed to get away and have a relaxing holiday to wind down.

“We just wanted to sit on the balcony after a night out and have a cup of tea and a biscuit. We didn’t bother. Looking at scaffolding and netting and men walking about and security guards walking about making noise at two in the morning, was not our idea of being relaxed.

“My wife said, ‘I don’t want to look out at that’. The balcony was a waste of time and the upgrade was a complete waste of money. The room on the website was nice, it promised being larger with a better kitchen and balcony.”

He added: “It was all useless though as where you wanted to get up in the morning and sit on the balcony and have a coffee and get ready for the day and again at nighttime, it was a waste of money.

“We got up and left the room as we didn’t want to listen to the noise. On the photos on the website, you couldn’t see any of the building work. There was nothing.”

Although the couple did speak a Jet2 rep at the time, they say they were uninformed that their location was due to them getting an upgraded room. While they did manage to find another room, by this point, their holiday was already more than half way over.

Lee continued: “I mentioned to our Jet2 rep and she said, ‘they are the upgraded rooms, that’s where they’re based’. How is that an upgrade? Looking onto a building site and as far away from the pool and bar and restaurant [as possible].

“They’ve given me the view from hell. It took them a day to respond and then she told me there were no rooms available and then the following day she said we might have a room for you.

“To be honest, we were only there a week and we were four days in by then. If we’d have been informed beforehand that the upgraded rooms had that view then I’d have said ‘I don’t want an upgraded room’.

“We just weren’t told. We just wanted a nice peaceful holiday and we didn’t get that.”

A Jet2 spokesperson issued the following statement at the time: “We believe it is very important to provide all relevant information to customers ahead of their well-deserved holidays, and at the time of this booking we made it very clear to customers that building works were taking place nearby.

“Customers were required to tick a box showing that they had read and understood this, and the information was also highlighted in the booking documentation.

“However, once we were made aware of Mr Trevitt’s feedback when he was on holiday, we immediately liaised with the hotel to source an alternative room and we made multiple attempts to contact Mr Trevitt by mobile, text, and by leaving a letter in his room – but we did not hear anything back.

“As an award-winning company, we do everything we can to help customers in the rare event that everything isn’t perfect. However, we were unable to provide such support on this occasion as we did not hear back from the customer.”

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A TEENAGER is fighting for his life in hospital after falling from a balcony while allegedly fleeing police.

The 19-year-old man suffered critical injuries after falling off an “upper balcony from height” in Tameside, Manchester, said cops.

A 14-year-old boy was also seriously injured in the same fall on Saturday night, according to Greater Manchester Police.

It came after police received reports of a “group of males with machetes making threats towards individuals” at the location.

Upon arrival, at around 7.20pm, officers gave chase to three males who “tried to leave” the property, with one of the three escaping through a lower balcony.

The 19-year-old who fell from the balcony then sustained serious injuries.

Footage from the scene showed emergency services at the foot of Bentinck House, a 12 storey tower block on the outskirts of Ashton town centre.

Three people have been arrested and drugs and a weapon have also been seized, said police.

Witnesses reported seeing armed police and an air ambulance at the scene.

Det Supt Gareth Jenkins from the Tameside District said: “The two injured parties, aged 14 and 19, have been taken to hospital for treatment of serious injuries, with the older male in a critical condition.

“These males are under the detention of officers pending their medical treatment, and another male has been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of drugs.

“Enquiries are ongoing to determine all of those involved and the full circumstances of what has happened in the lead up to the incident. Suspected drugs and a weapon have been recovered.

“A small scene remains in place at the property and residents in the area should expect to see further police activity.

“Anyone with any information which has not yet been provided to us, or with any concerns, should speak to officers on the ground.

“I’d like to reassure the community that this incident is believed to be between individuals known to one another, with no wider risk to the community.”

Police are looking for any witnesses to come forward with any information that could aid their inquiries.

Anyone with information is being urged to call 101 quoting incident number 2849 of May 31 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.