Four people seriously hurt in Ottawa Centretown balcony collapse

OTTAWA -

Four people suffered serious injuries when an apartment balcony collapsed in Ottawa's Centretown neighbourhood on Halloween night.

Emergency crews responded to a three-storey apartment building on Frank Street, between Elgin Street and Metcalfe Street, just before 10 p.m. Sunday.

Ottawa fire says the second floor balcony collapsed while multiple people were standing on it.

"Upon arrival, firefighters worked to secure the scene and fall hazards," said Ottawa fire in a media release.

Paramedics said they assessed seven people on the scene. Four people, all in their 20s, were taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The patients' injuries were:

• A man in his late 20s suffered a lower extremity fracture
• A man in his late 20s suffered chest and upper extremity injuries
• A woman in her late 20s had back and lower extremity pain
• A woman in her mid-20s suffered chest injuries

Three more patients were treated at the scene for injuries, but declined transport to the emergency department, paramedics said.

Photos showed the left side of the second floor balcony hanging from the building after the collapse, while the first floor balcony was no longer attached to the building. The collapsed balcony was removed from the building shortly before 11 p.m.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation.

This is a developing story. CTV News Ottawa will have the latest as it becomes available.