DIBOLL, Texas, July 19 (UPI) -- The ceiling of a unit at the Diboll Correctional Center in east Texas collapsed Saturday, injuring 19 people, fire officials said.
The mostly sheet rock ceiling caved in around 11:30 a.m. inside a housing unit where there were 86 people.
The 19 people who were injured were transported to a hospital for evaluation, one of which was airlifted to a hospital in Houston some 120 miles away.
"We are using rapid transport protocol and tagging people according to the severity of their injuries," Lufkin Fire Department Battalion Chief Jesse Moody told CNN.
Officials were investigating the cause of the collapse. Moody said he's not sure if recent rain was to blame.
"It's not raining at all today here. We got a lot of rain yesterday. It's a new building, a new facility. I don't know why the roof would collapse," he said.
