Newlyweds, 39 Guests Fall 25 Feet As Dance Floor Collapses During Wedding In Italy

A newly married couple and dozens of guests were rushed to the hospital in Italy after the dance floor collapsed during their wedding reception. According to the New York Post, more than 30 of their guests fell 25 feet through the floor of their Italian reception venue. As a result, the newlyweds had to spend their wedding day in the hospital. 

Notably, Paolo Mugnaini and his Italian-American bride Valeria Ybarra, both 26, had invited around 150 people for their wedding at the former Giaccherino convent in Pistoia, Italy, according to Corriere della Sera.

As the guests were dancing and enjoying themselves, a huge hole suddenly opened up, sending all of them plummeting through the floor below amid rubble, debris, and wooden planks.

The groom, Mr Mugnaini, told doctors "everyone was happy" before the floor collapsed. "Suddenly, I found myself in another dimension, in the dark, in the void. In a moment, I heard bodies falling on me, along with rubble of all kinds, dust, splinters,'' he said. 

''I had entered a frightening whirlpool and I couldn't orient myself. Then I found myself in front of my best friend. I called him, but he didn't answer, he had a big cut on his head, and there was a lot of blood. Only then did I begin to understand. I started screaming, calling Valerie, my wife. She was unresponsive and she seemed to have disappeared. I feared that she had been buried by the rubble,'' he added.

As per Metro, six were left with serious injuries and 10 were ‘moderately' injured, with all of those hurt receiving treatment at the San Jacopo Hospital in Pistoia, Italy. Fortunately, all are in stable condition.

Later, images surfaced online showing the couple lying hand in hand beside each other in separate hospital beds with a drip attached to the groom's arm. 

The owners of the venue told a local newspaper that they didn't understand how the collapse happened, describing it as a "tragic and unpredictable event." The former convent is now closed as police investigate its structural integrity. The couple have now filed a complaint against the venue with local prosecutors.