The staff at an Audi dealership in Milton Keynes, a town of about 250,000 in Buckinghamshire, got a rude awakening on Monday (June 1st) afternoon.
20 cars plunged through a broken ceiling onto a workshop. Fortunately, none was hurt, as they all followed a safety protocol and evacuated. However, the damage was substantial.
Firefighters quickly arrived on scene to turn off the gas and electricity connection. Unfortunately, the 20 damaged cars also posed a safety risk due to the fuel they had inside them. Structural engineers also make quick fixes, as two-thirds of the 2,000 square meter roof was still relatively intact.
“There was a bang, at which point one of the managers set off the fire alarm,” said Jason Cranswick, commercial director of Jardine Motors Group, the dealership’s parent company. “It was after everybody was evacuated that the collapse occurred.”
Video footage captured after the incident shows both older and newer Audi models, so it's obvious that the multi-storey car park housed some customer cars. However, Jardine Motors assures us that only a small number of the vehicles damaged belonged to their clients, the rest being unsold vehicles owned by the dealership.
All the customers directly affected by this incident will be contacted in person, and reimbursements will be made.
The building was specifically designed as a car park above the workshop area, accessible by a ramp at the rear of the building. Construction was finished in 2014, and there was nothing unusual about the number of vehicles parked on the roof at the time of the collapse.
The same company owns other similar structures, so an investigation is crucial to ensure this incident isn't repeated.
Firefighters quickly arrived on scene to turn off the gas and electricity connection. Unfortunately, the 20 damaged cars also posed a safety risk due to the fuel they had inside them. Structural engineers also make quick fixes, as two-thirds of the 2,000 square meter roof was still relatively intact.
“There was a bang, at which point one of the managers set off the fire alarm,” said Jason Cranswick, commercial director of Jardine Motors Group, the dealership’s parent company. “It was after everybody was evacuated that the collapse occurred.”
Video footage captured after the incident shows both older and newer Audi models, so it's obvious that the multi-storey car park housed some customer cars. However, Jardine Motors assures us that only a small number of the vehicles damaged belonged to their clients, the rest being unsold vehicles owned by the dealership.
All the customers directly affected by this incident will be contacted in person, and reimbursements will be made.
The building was specifically designed as a car park above the workshop area, accessible by a ramp at the rear of the building. Construction was finished in 2014, and there was nothing unusual about the number of vehicles parked on the roof at the time of the collapse.
The same company owns other similar structures, so an investigation is crucial to ensure this incident isn't repeated.