Ceiling of liquor store chiller collapses

A collapsed ceiling caused chaos in a large walk-in chiller in New Plymouth on Saturday.

Emergency services workers feared someone may have been trapped in the chiller, which houses beer and other alcohol at the Mill Liquorsave's inner-city outlet.

The Taranaki Daily News reported today that the chiller was left drowning in water, boxes and paper after its polystyrene panelled ceiling caved in, breaking a head off the sprinkler system.

Senior fire station officer Maurice Kemsley said emergency services quickly cleared the 10m by 4m chiller to make sure no one was trapped.

Mill Liquorsave general manager Stephen Fromont said it was not known what had caused the collapse.

He said there were old records and "stuff" stored above the chiller that fell in when the ceiling gave way.

Mr Fromont said the sprinkler was the cause of all the chaos. "All the mayhem happened when the sprinklers went off and then alarms went off and all that sort of thing. There is not much structural damage but it's enough to say we can't function and open."

The store has been closed since the incident and will remain shut until at least tomorrow.

The Department of Labour is investigating the incident.

- NZPA