Downtown Kingston streets were flooded with people dressed up for St. Patrick’s Day as they painted the town green.
The street party resulted in more than a usual commotion on University Avenue. This was after a roof of an old home at 237 University Ave. collapsed. There were about 40 people sitting on top of the roof when it broke through and everyone, along with the roof, fell to the ground.
No one was seriously injured after the incident. One of the women sitting on the roof scraped her leg after it became stuck in the broken roof.
Queen’s University student Sakhia Kwemo filmed the video of the roof collapse from a next-door balcony.
“The whole scene was kinda crazy so I took my phone out and started snapping the whole party scene going crazy. The next thing is… I hear some cracking sounds and I look to my right and all I see is the roof just collapsing,” Kwemo told Global News.
WATCH: St. Paddy’s Day celebrations lead to a collapsed roof on University Ave. in Kingston
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The incident happened early in the day — before noon — during what Kwemo said should’ve been an enjoyable but safe celebration.
The group of students that fell through the roof told CKWS that they ended up calling Kingston Police to report the incident and get help.
“How nobody was injured is beyond me,” said Kingston Police sergeant Darren Keuhl. “Enjoy with safety, but obviously with that roof collapse, it’s not very safe — I can’t get this message across.”
Kingston Police had to immediately call for Kingston Fire & Rescue and ask them to cut the roof to make sure no one was trapped underneath.
Late afternoon, Aberdeen Street, which is known for its St. Paddy’s Day street party, saw more troubled action.
Police handed out lots of tickets for drinking on the streets and made some arrests. An ambulance was also seen taking several people to the hospital.
Kingston residents were very frustrated by the commotion caused by young Kingstonians on the streets.
“This is an absolute disgrace… we let the students get away with breaking the law. They would not want this going on in their neighbourhood, so why should we put up with it. It is absolutely disgraceful,” said Kingston resident Don Rogers.
Police continued to watch over downtown Kingston and monitor the St. Paddy’s Day street party.
Several streets, including University Ave., Johnston St. and Aberdeen St., were filled with people walking on the roads and blocking traffic.
— With files from Rahul Kalvapalle
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