Collapsed deck was given 'all clear'

Ben Simpson outside the collapsed deck at the Kitty Frazer Lane holiday home in Omaha where he was staying with friends. Photo / Greg Bowker

A holiday-home deck that collapsed, injuring nine people, had earlier been given the all-clear by a builder - but another deck was deemed unsafe and closed off to renters.

An investigation began yesterday into the collapse of the deck in Omaha on Sunday night in which nine people suffered injuries ranging from cuts to fractured bones.

Injured survivors yesterday told the Herald how the deck "completely and utterly buckled", leaving a scene of devastation.

House owner Nina Stevenson said a builder had inspected two decks at the property two to three years ago and given the all-clear to the one that collapsed.

However, he found another deck to be unsafe and it was locked off, with a warning sign stuck to the glass door leading to it.

That sign - "Do not go on this deck. It is unsafe and is to be rebuilt. Keep sliders locked at all times" - was still there when the Herald visited the Kitty Frazer Lane property.

The group renting the holiday home, who had attended a wedding in Warkworth on Saturday and were winding down before their scheduled return to Auckland yesterday, had unrestricted access to the other deck, which collapsed 2.5 metres.

Mrs Stevenson said she and her husband were very upset about what had happened and had been ringing Auckland City and North Shore hospitals for updates on the injured.

"This whole experience would be so traumatic for the people involved. That's our only concern at the moment. Everything else will come later. We just want to make sure that they're okay."

Mrs Stevenson said her family had holidayed at the property only last week.

When they bought it about 10 years ago, they were given a report showing it was safe, she said. "We would never let people on the deck if we didn't think it was safe. Why would we put our own children on it? It's just been such a huge shock to us."

Mrs Stevenson said she wanted to talk to the injured to "see if there's something they feel we need to do. I mean, it could have been me and my kids and my Mum and Dad falling through there. So straight away you put yourself in their position and think how terrifying and horrific it must have been for them."

Auckland Council spokeswoman Angeline Barlow said a building inspector was sent to the property yesterday to determine the cause of the collapse. The findings would be sent to the police, who would decide how to proceed.

Last night, seven of the injured partygoers had been discharged from hospital. The other two were awaiting surgery on a dislocated elbow and injured ankle.

Lucy Akroyd, 23, had just walked on to the deck when it went down.

"It just completely and utterly buckled and we just flew down onto the concrete below. We had a table and chairs with us, so they smashed in amongst us all, and then the ranchslider smashed on top of us," she said.

"People were stumbling all around, there was blood ... It was just quite chaotic."

Ms Akroyd was stuck in the rubble for half an hour before being taken by ambulance to Auckland City Hospital.

She said there was no indication that the deck was unsafe, and larger numbers of people had been on it earlier in the night.

Her friend Louise Earles, 23, suffered mild head trauma after being knocked out. "I just remember bits and pieces - when I was trying to wash the blood off my face in the bathroom and then being led ... towards the ambulance and being told to sit down."

Noor Al-Ansari, 22, was taken by helicopter to Auckland City Hospital after badly bruising her back and suffering gashes to her back and arms. "I can only remember hearing screaming, and I was taken away inside and put on a chair and they took the glass out of my hand."

One of the first people on the scene was former All Black Glen Osborne, who was on an Insite Security patrol with co-worker Karl Newton.

"There was a lot of panic, a lot of injured people ... We had an injured girl right by the front gate, and I took care of her while Karl assessed the situation around the back, which was not good, as you can imagine."

Mr Osborne said the girl he assisted was badly hurt and in shock. "Her teeth had gone right through the bottom of her lip."

Ben Simpson, 23, said the only warning the deck was about to collapse had been a "big crack".

"I just took the brunt of everybody on top of me. There was a lot of confusion, and a bit of blood, and the girls were all screaming. It's just surreal."

He thinks he cut the top of his head open when a glass ranchslider door on the floor below the deck shattered.

Yesterday, Matt Farrell, 24, was jokingly referred to as "Houdini" by friends after being the only person to escape injury in the collapse.

"We were just drinking and chatting ... then the whole thing just let go, and down we went. It wasn't creaking at all."

After the collapse came a few moments of silence, he said.

Jonny Munden, 24, was inside watching the Australian Open men's tennis final with the rest of the group.

"Literally we all saw it go, 'See you later' ... Someone was lying in the ranchslider. One guy had a big gash in his knee. But I think in terms of what could have happened it's pretty good."

Mr Munden said the security and emergency services did an outstanding job getting the situation under control as quickly as they did.

Websites that allow owners to advertise their holiday homes for rent have no obligations to ensure those properties are safe.

The Omaha bach was rented out through bookabach.co.nz, which charges bach owners to advertise the availability of their properties.

When customers express an interest in an advertised holiday home, they are referred to the owner.

Peter Miles, chief executive of bookabach.co.nz, said the website was not responsible for the properties it listed.

"Because baches and holiday homes are people's second homes, we largely assume that owners have made them fit for purpose and safe - safe for their own family and for any guests they may have stay."

Mr Miles said bookabach did not perform hands-on safety inspections, but highlighted to owners their obligations regarding health and safety through a guide it gave them when they signed up, and through newsletters.

"I haven't had a chance to speak to the owner yet. It is a very regrettable incident and I feel for the guests and the owner.

"Once more information becomes available, we'll review what we publish and see how else we can assist in preventing incidents such as this."

Bookabach.co.nz lists about 5200 properties, making it the second biggest site in the NZ market after holidayhouses.co.nz.