Wedding party, guests hurt in deck collapse

The day after his stepson’s wedding celebration came to a crashing end, a Lawrenceville man said he hopes it’s a sign the marriage will be a good one.

A deck at Ygor Zuniga’s home collapsed, sending everyone to the ground and five people to the hospital Thursday night.

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Vino Wong / vwong@ajc.com

Ygor Zuniga (holding his grandson, Adrian Medina, 6 months) was celebrating his stepson’s wedding party with his family when a second-story deck collapse during a photo session.

Vino Wong / vwong@ajc.com

The deck plunged about 12 feet to the ground. Firefighters later said the deck may have been damaged by termites.

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“Everybody is still in good condition,” said Zuniga, who has owned the house for nine years. “Everybody left the hospital at 5 a.m. this morning and are now home.”

After his stepson Brian Cordoba got married Thursday, friends and family gathered at Zuniga’s home.

The wedding party had just assembled on the back deck to take pictures with the wedding cake when the unthinkable happened.

They had set the scene with candles and glasses, but no one got a single bite because the deck collapsed.

The cake went down too, Zuniga said.

He said the worst injuries — a twisted ankle and four broken toes — were sustained by one of the adults who fell when half of the deck collapsed. Eleven people fell, and most were children, he said.

The accident happened at the home on Brays Mill Trace in Lawrenceville. Upon arrival after 9:15 p.m., firefighters found five people injured when the wooden deck they were standing on pulled away from the house and fell in a “lean-to” type collapse.

The deck plunged about 12 feet to the ground from the second level of the wood frame house. Firefighters said there appeared to be signs of termite damage that may have weakened the deck.

Zuniga didn’t know the age of the deck, but said half of it was there when he bought the house. He expanded the deck recently, but that part didn’t fall, he said.

The victims were not trapped under any of the debris when firefighters arrived. Some were found outside and some inside the house as paramedics evaluated their injuries.

Zuniga is a native of Chile, and his wife, stepson and new daughter-in-law are natives of Peru.

He said he’s hopeful the future will be a happy one for the newlyweds.

“If something bad is coming, something good will follow,” Zuniga said.

Rachel Tobin Ramos and Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.