Dozens of children were injured when a stairwell collapsed at an indoor obstacle course gym in Barrio Logan Saturday night.

The incident was reported at 7:40 p.m. at Vault PK on Main Street near Sigsbee Street, a large warehouse that shares space with a paintball facility and Crossfit gym. Vault PK specializes in parkour, a physically demanding sport that requires athletes to combat obstacle courses often by launching themselves from structure to structure.

The accident occurred in the midst of an open gym night for ages 5 to 14, according to the gym’s website.

Twenty-one children of various age and two adults, ages 72 and 46, were taken to hospitals with moderate to minor injuries. About three or four of the victims suffered spinal injuries when a 10-by-30-foot wooden platform came down on them, injuries that were considered slightly more serious, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Steve Wright. No one was trapped under the rubble, he said.


“It could have been much worse,” he said.

The patients were taken to Rady Children’s Hospital, Scripps Mercy, Sharp and UC San Diego Medical Center, Wright said.

He said there were additional people with minor injuries who left on their own, rather than by ambulance.

Zachary Smith, there with his son for a birthday party, said he was standing on the platform, which he described as a viewing area, along with about 30 others, when the staircase below collapsed, sending the platform down with it. He fell onto a little girl but neither were really hurt, he said. His son had been on the platform in line for pizza and received minor scrapes.


“It was a freak accident,” Smith said, but added it could have been avoided because the structure didn’t seem built for the weight of that crowd.

Smith said the collapse sent the place into chaos with parents trying to find their children and pulling off chairs that had fallen on people.

Parents who had dropped off their kids for the evening rushed back to the area.

A parent who did not provide his name said the stairwell collapsed after so many children were running up and down to get free pizza. Many parents were likely using a Groupon that had been offered for the evening’s open gym, he said.


His 11-year-old son was not injured. He said he thought 40 to 50 people would show up for the evening “but there were probably three times that.”

Joe Saari said when he and his wife dropped off their two children for a few hours there were 100 to 150 kids at the warehouse. The couple had headed back home to Chula Vista when one of their children called and said there had been an accident.

His kids suffered minor scrapes, Saari said.

A woman said her 13-year-old son was unhurt but “devastated” by the traumatic scene. She said she went inside to get him out and saw one child with blood all over his face.


At Total Combat Paintball, which shares the facility with the gym, “It was business as usual until we heard a loud boom come from the gym, at which point our staff and some customers ran over to the gym to help any way we could,” the company said in a statement.

An hour after the incident, the street around the warehouse was lined with ambulances and fire trucks, some leaving with victims inside and yet still more emergency vehicles arriving. One woman stood on the sidewalk, holding an ice pack over one eye while she talked on her cellphone.

Children huddled nearby in groups, some with parents. San Diego police corralled the children and matched them up with parents as they arrived.

City building inspectors were on scene Saturday but will begin the bulk of the investigation into the cause of the collapse Sunday morning.


kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis