MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Kansas City Royals pitcher Rich Gale said today the collapse of two skywalks on a crowded lobby at the Kansas City, Mo., Hyatt Regency Hotel was the 'worst thing I've ever seen or imagined.'
In an interview with Manchester radio station WGIR, the Littleton, N.H., native said he was working at one of the five bars in the lobby when the accident occured about 7:30 p.m. CDT.
Working at the bar because of the protracted baseball strike, Gale said he saw the fourth-floor, steel and concrete walkway fold in the middle and then strike a second walkway beneath it.
'As I saw it starting to fall, I moved away because we didn't know what the hell was going to happen really,' Gale said.
The two walkways fell on the lobby where an estimated 2,000 people were attending the Hyatt's weekly Tea Dance. Officials said dozens of people were killed and scores more were injured.
'As soon as we realized that it stopped, I started over towards there and started helping people get out of the way and just tried to be calm. That was one of the big things that helped, people stayed pretty calm,' Gale said.
'It was the worst thing I've ever seen or imagined,' he said.
'I helped move a few people away from it. One gentleman was quite seriously injured and we saw some others that we just couldn't help, we couldn't get to,' Gale added.
Officials eventually cleared the entire lobby, he said, because of fears of a natural gas leak.
