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14 hospitalized as deck collapses during family photo at NC beach house

EMERALD ISLE, NC (WNCN) – Emerald Isle Police and hospital authorities say as many as 25 people were hurt with at least 14 of those hospitalized after a deck collapsed at a beach house on Saturday evening.

According to 24-Hour News 8 sister station, WNCN, a family was posing for a photo during their last night at the beach when the deck collapsed just before 7 p.m., police and other sources say.

The collapse happened at a beach-front home at 4403 Ocean Drive on Emerald Isle in Carteret County on Saturday.

More than 20 people were on the deck at the time and at least 14 people were hospitalized, officials at Carteret General Hospital and Emerald Isle Police say.   Officials said 25 people were hurt, but not all of those were taken to the hospital.

Of those hospitalized, two are in critical condition, hospital officials say. Seven ambulances transported the patients along with two medical helicopters.

Two people were transported to another hospital, with one of those taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington.

The house at 4403 Ocean Drive is called “UNSERHAVEN” and is available for rent and is currently for sale at $1.1 million, according to rental websites and Zillow.

The house has 6 bedrooms, 5 bedrooms, last sold for $360,000 in 1993 and had its last remodel in 1987, according to information from Zillow.   Rental data from Bluewater Rentals indicates the house rents for $3,000+ per week during the high season.

The house was occupied by renters at the time of the incident and the family was set to check out on Sunday morning, emergency officials told the Carteret News-Times.

Fire Chief Bill Walker told The Associated Press by phone that a deck section measuring about 12 feet by 12 feet, which he estimated to be at least 10 feet above ground, gave way at the single-story ocean front home on pilings.