Previously: 75 Hurt in Ohio Terrace Collapse
Coming Today: Firehouse.Com interviews some of the first rescuers to arrive

JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press Writer

MIDDLE BASS ISLAND, Ohio (AP) -- Engineers and investigators returned Monday to an old winery on a Lake Erie island to try to determine why a concrete terrace collapsed, dropping revelers 20 feet into an old wine cellar.

The weekend accident killed one person and injured at least 75.

AP Photo/Daniel Miller Emergency personnel transport an injured tourist from a medical staging area set up at the Miller Ferry docks.

``I heard some rumbling, kind of like thunder. The next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground,'' said Mike Bowman of Valparaiso, Ind.

The investigation of the collapse Saturday at Lonz Winery includes analysis of the concrete flooring and the steel supports underneath. The historic building, now used as a wine-tasting and entertainment center, attracts thousands of tourists a year.

An early review during the weekend led engineers to suspect the collapse was caused by a structural problem, not an overload of people, said Ottawa County Sheriff Craig Emahiser.

``It's going to be a long process before we can tell what exactly happened,'' Emahiser said. He said the terrace was built in 1964, and he wasn't sure when it was last inspected.

The collapse created a 16- to 18-foot-wide hole in the lakefront terrace of the winery's century-old main building, a fortresslike mansion on the National Register of Historic Places.

There were a few thousand people at the winery Saturday, but only 100 were on the 25-by-20-foot terrace, said Put-in-Bay Police Chief Jim Lang.

George Prusock was attending a bachelor party at the winery.

``It was our buddy's last hurrah before he got married,'' said Prusock, 25, of Mayfield Heights. ``The next thing you know, the floor collapsed and he's under the pop machine. The floor just dropped. Nobody had any time to react.''

AP Photo/Daniel Miller Emergency personnel scramble to prepare medical supplies at a medical staging area set up at the Miller Ferry docks.

Most people were drinking wine coolers and singing along with a piano player on a nearby stage. ``Nobody was dancing in that area, the floor just gave out,'' Fire Chief Mark Wilhelm said.

``It was a gorgeous afternoon. Everybody was enjoying the day,'' said the piano player, Larry Read. ``It was extremely crowded, a typical holiday weekend.''

Among those who helped pull people from the rubble were Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Steve Zahursky and New York Giants receiver Joe Jurevicius.

``It got pretty chaotic. I carried out maybe 14, 15 people out of there,'' Zahursky said.

Though the winery is on an island and is normally a 20-minute ferry ride from the Ohio shoreline, emergency crews arrived within 10 minutes of getting the call. When they got there, everybody already had been pulled out by people in the crowd.

``We had people pouring out of the walls to help,'' Wilhelm said.

The dead man was identified as Mark Reighard, 29, of Columbus.

Twenty-five people remained in hospitals Monday, several in serious condition.

The winery sits on about 120 acres on Middle Bass Island, which is about six miles from the mainland and north of Sandusky. Only about 40 people live on the island but as many as 1,500 visitors stay during busy summer weekends.

Although it was famous as a winery in the 19th century, grapes haven't been grown there for more than 20 years. The state is buying the site for $6.75 million to turn into a park.