Cinema ceiling in Cebu City collapses, hurts 6

Cebu City (CNN Philippines) — At least six people were injured after a portion of a movie theater's ceiling in a Cebu City mall collapsed on Monday evening (June 15).

At around 8:50 p.m., the middle portion of the ceiling of Ayala Center Cebu Cinema 5 gave up, prompting about 300 people attending a private movie screening to evacuate the theater.

The event was organized by business process outsourcing firm Dreamscape Network Inc.

Lawyer Jeanette Japzon, corporate communications manager of Cebu Holdings Inc., which owns the mall, said one of those injured was sent to a private hospital while the other five did not need hospitalization.

As of 11 p.m. on Monday, Japzon said all those inside the cinema were successfully evacuated.

Response efforts reportedly took 25 minutes to arrive, but mall officials said they are still verifying the report.

A video of the incident, posted on YouTube by user fjmicforce, showed water leaking from the pipelines on the part of the ceiling that collapsed, which is why many of those inside got wet.

Japzon said that the clearing of debris as well as works to dry the cinema are still ongoing.

Mall officials said a police probe is welcome but added that they will also launch their own investigation regarding the incident.