Mississippi church floor collapses; around 35 injured: report

[February 20, 2014]  (Reuters) — As many as 35 young worshippers were injured after part of a second floor of a Mississippi church collapsed during a Wednesday evening youth service, the organization's pastor said, according to one local media report.

The second-floor youth room collapsed onto the first-floor kitchen at Freedom Baptist Church in rural Jones County, about 100 miles southeast of Jackson, Mississippi, according to the Chronicle, a local newspaper.

"In the middle of the student service, the floor — which is a second-story floor — gave way, causing about 70 students to fall," church pastor Tommy Davis said, according to a video on the newspaper's website. "But it's got to be said that no one was seriously injured, no one was trapped."

As many as 35 people were injured and more than a dozen were sent to nearby hospitals, the newspaper reported. Injuries ranged from scrapes and bruises to lacerations, head injuries, and broken bones.

Reuters could not independently confirm the incident with local and state officials. The church and an area hospital did not immediately respond to requests for information.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; editing by Toby Chopra)

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