Prop falls during Manhattan high school musical, injuring four students

At least four Stuyvesant High School students were injured when a prop collapsed during a musical at the lower Manhattan school Thursday night, authorities said.

The teens were performing in SING!, an annual, student run musical production, when a bridge connecting two platforms collapsed under the weight of several students at about 8:30 p.m., witnesses said.

A group from the freshman and sophomore class was singing their spirit song, when a large bolt keeping the bridge together snapped, said Joan Chirinos, 17.

“We were all panicking. People were running with ice and the audience was rushing out of the theater,”Chirinos said.

Medics took four people to Bellevue Hospital for treatment, an FDNY spokesman said.

The 4-foot long bridge, which arched upward, stood about 8-feet tall at the base, and 14 feet in the center.

“I was in the tech crew. We built that stage. It was one of the big bolts. We made sure to use a tough one there,” Chirinos said.

The annual event, which was postponed a day after Wednesday's snowstorm, drew a crowd of parents and students.

“We write the play. We write the music. We do the lights. We build the sets. We do everything,” Chirinos explained.

Connie Walden, 17, a senior, said about 10 students crowded the bridge for the song.

“There were way too many people on the bridge,” he said. “They took one girl out on a stretcher. It was surreal.”

One student broke her leg in the fall, Walden said.

“EMS immediately responded and transported students involved to the hospital where they are in stable condition and are being treated for non-life threatening injuries,” city Education Department spokeswoman Miranda Barbot said.

“Safety always comes first and we are looking into what caused the prop to collapse during the performance.”