Two ‘on stretchers’ after debris falls on restaurant
‘I thought we’d been bombed’ said witness
AROCHDALE man has spoken of his shock as two people were taken to hospital ‘in stretchers’ after an incident at a Manchester city centre restaurant.
Neil Standring, was walking past Ramona when it happened.
Customers enjoying a night out in Manchester city centre thought a restaurant had been bombed as falling debris from a neighbouring construction site pierced the tipi they were sat under.
Two people were taken to hospital ‘in stretchers’ one with a head injury while another was treated at the scene following the incident at Ramona in Swan Street.
The venue has said that high winds ‘blew several pieces of debris’ from a neighbouring construction site during the ‘severe storm’.
The debris - which our sister paper M.E.N. has been told included boards measuring around two by two metres - also fell onto parked vehicles nearby.
Manchester council is looking into the incident and has alerted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which is ‘making enquiries’.
Mr Standring was on a night out with gym friends when the incident happened.
He said: “I was on the side where the building site was. There was a massive gust. We just saw all this stuff fall in. We had to duck.
“The size of the stuff that got lifted was pretty big. I don’t know what it was. I think there was massive chunks. It was hectic.”
The M.E.N. spoke to people who witnessed what happened on the night, including one who was under the tipi when the debris fell.
She said: “I thought we’d been bombed. The bang it made was unbelievable.
“I literally looked up and everyone was screaming. Everyone just panicked. The staff panicked.”
The Ramona customer, who requested to remain anonymous, had booked a table for dinner with some friends that night, but were told their reservation was delayed by around 45 minutes. When they were seated, they saw men drilling one of the beams of the tipi.
She later heard from other customers that part of the tipi structure was damaged due to the weather earlier in the evening. Ramona has been asked to confirm whether the tipi area was closed before the incident due to damage, but has declined to comment further.
When their table was ready, the group was one of the first to be seated in the tipi area. But by the time they were eating, it was ‘full’.
Within 10 minutes of their food arriving, there was a loud ‘bang’. One man who was sat nearby was hit on the arm, the customer said.
She then turned around and saw another man who appeared to be hurt. “His girlfriend was saying ‘he’s bleeding, he’s bleeding, his head’s bleeding’,” she recalls.
“The security then came
in and said everyone needs to get out and they rang the ambulance. They evacuated the whole place.”
Ramona issued a statement on Tuesday (December 12) which said that all injured parties are ‘safe and recovering’. A spokesperson said: “On the evening of Saturday, 9th December, an incident occurred where, during the severe storm, high winds blew several pieces of debris from a neighbouring construction site, onto parked vehicles, and piercing the Ramona tipis, injuring customers.”