An unfortunate incident happened during the only T20I between Windies and England when a woman spectator broke her leg, and two other bystanders got injured as a part of the stand at Chester-le-Street collapsed injuring three in the process. Durham has already begun an investigation on the same.
The incident occurred at around 9:30 pm midway through the England innings in the north-eastern part of the ground. Around 200 spectators were vacated from that spot, and their places were allocated in a different part. It was confirmed that a woman with a broken leg during the mishap was treated at the Newcastle RVI Hospital.
The club conceded that the part which collapsed was a permanent fixture in the ground and not an additional seating arrangement to increase the capacity and it had passed the safety inspections ahead of the solitary T20I.
A statement during the match said:
“During the course of the second innings between England v West Indies at Emirates Riverside, three spectators were injured when a small section of the North-East Terrace flooring became unstable causing them to fall.
“Stewards took precautionary action and evacuated that area of the stand efficiently. The stand is a permanent fixture at the venue and had passed inspections in the week before the match.”
“Following last night’s fixture at Emirates Riverside, three spectators were injured as a result of an incident in the in the North-East Terrace. At this early stage, it appears that part of the flooring failed,” the club further added.
“Durham County Cricket Club is currently undertaking its own full and thorough investigation into this incident and will cooperate fully with any investigation by any third party. No further comment will be made by the club until those investigations are complete.”
The Riverside Stadium has hosted 26 international matches since its inception 1995 and was recently barred from hosting Test matches after a financial bailout from the ECB which made the club lose its first division status.
Windies skipper Carlos Brathwaite conceded that the match was close to being abandoned after Chadwick Wilton, Windies wicket-keeper slipped badly but was able to continue.