School children flee in terror as sports arena roof collapses

They had seconds to escape

Young hockey players fled for safety as the roof of the sports hall they were playing in collapsed on Saturday night.

Around 80 people were in the newly opened facility in the Czech city of Ceska Trebova when the ceiling suddenly caved in.

Footage filmed at the venue shows an indoor hockey game taking place before players and spectators begin sprinting en masse for the exit.

Moments after the hall empties, the roof buckles in on itself and the lights go out as the ceiling crashes down.

Two boys sustained minor injuries in the rush to leave, but otherwise no one was harmed.

The players in the match were school children from the Parubice region.

An investigation is underway to figure out why the sports hall, which opened on 2nd January, collapsed.

The incident took place after several days of heavy snow which left a 25 centimetre layer on the roof, but the building’s designer told reporters that the snow could not have caused the collapse, adding that all building standards were observed.

Martin Netolický, the Governor of the Parubice region, posted to Facebook blaming "sloppy, irresponsible" construction.

"I am very sorry for what happened," he wrote. "I’m honestly glad nobody got hurt."

He thanked the match referee, Jiří Němec, for organising a swift evacuation, predicting that he "prevented a disaster."