Toronto Theater Wall Falls Into School, Rescues in Progress

Dec. 8, 2003
A wall of a Toronto theater that was being demolished collapsed Monday into a school next door.

TORONTO (AP) -- A wall of a Toronto theater that was being demolished collapsed Monday into a school next door. Some people were trapped inside, an emergency worker said.

The incident happened at the Uptown Theater and Yorkville English Academy, which teaches English mostly to adults and teenagers.

``The only thing we know is we have some people trapped,'' said Peter Ritolo, an emergency worker at the scene.

``My daughter called me right after it happened and said the roof had collapsed,'' said Helen Wanger, a parent of a student. She said her daughter was injured and taken to a hospital.

No other information was immediately available.

The Uptown Theater, which opened in 1920 as a movie theater and a live stage show venue, is considered a historic site and was the subject of an unsuccessful campaign to stop its demolition.

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