SkyDome engineers are trying to find out why two 30-pound wooden acoustic tiles fell from the facing of the upper deck of the stadium, injuring seven fans attending the Toronto Blue Jays-Milwaukee Brewers game.
The 8-foot-by 21/2-foot tiles fell about 50 feet from the fifth deck Thursday, landing on fans seated in the second deck while the Brewers were batting in the seventh inning. Fans in the section were forced out of their seats for the rest of the game, which was not stopped during the incident.An elderly man was given stitches at SkyDome and sent home, but a teen-aged woman - sitting in the front row of the section - was taken to Toronto Western Hospital with cuts on her head and a possible neck injury. She was treated at the hospital and released Thursday night.
"Right now, our engineering team is doing a total investigation to find out what caused it," SkyDome Corporation vice president David Garrick said after the game. "We have a football game here next Saturday, so we want to have everything ship-shape by then."
The section was blocked-off with yellow caution tape after the game, and SkyDome engineers were inspecting the spot from where the tiles fell.
Five people were treated for minor cuts at SkyDome's medical center and released.
Ron Davies, 45, was one of the fans who suffered minor injuries.
"It hit me right on the head," he said. "I have a headache and a stiff neck."
The players on the field and in the dugout eventually realized what had happened and expressed concern about the fans who were hurt.
"I just hope everyone is all right," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said.
Most of the 43,490 fans at the game had no idea anything unusual had happened for several minutes. But the ones sitting close to the section where the tiles fell couldn't help but notice.
"I was sitting in the front row of a private box and those two huge things came dropping down right in front of my eyes," said Jayson Melbourne, who was sitting on SkyDome's third deck, one level above the section where the tiles landed and two below the tier they fell from.
"I heard an extreme yell from three or four people. I saw one woman holding her head and those two huge things lying on a whole bunch of people. They came down really quickly."
Kevin Archibald and Brett Rogers were sitting just a few rows behind the spot where the tiles landed.
"Everybody grabbed their heads and a couple of people grabbed their legs," Archibald said.
Blue Jays spokesman Howie Starkman said that the accident was unfortunate.