One person has been sent to hospital after a ramp carrying people to Pajo’s on the Wharf in Steveston suddenly collapsed Sunday, stranding dozens more at the floating restaurant.
Tatiana Zanotto and her parents were on the walkway heading toward the popular fish and chips joint when they heard a loud cracking noise.
“We looked at each other, thinking ‘what’s going on’ then there was another noise and we free-fell about 12 feet down toward the water,” said Zanotto, who lives in Burnaby.
Her brother and sister, who were ahead of them on the ramp and were already at the restaurant when the walkway fell, rushed to help them.
“My mother doesn’t know how to swim. My main concern was getting her to land,” said Zanotto.”It was very traumatic, very scary.”
B.C. Ambulance said paramedics arrived five minutes after they received the call, but they were unable to offer help, said Zanotto, because there was no other way to get to the restaurant aside from the collapsed walkway. “It’s a flaw in how it’s set up. The only way out is the only way in.”
Authorities built a makeshift dock and got everyone out about 35 to 40 minutes later, she said.
Zanotto escaped without a scratch, but her mom Tina has bruises along the left side of her body and some soft tissue damage. Her dad Franco, who clung to the steel bars on the side when the walkway fell, also experienced back and shoulder pain.
Witnesses said online that “around 15” people were on the ramp when it collapsed, but Zanotto said her family were the only ones on there when the structure buckled.
This is Pajo’s original location, floating on the corner of Bayview and Third Avenue in Richmond since 1985.
The Coast Guard sent one vessel to the scene as backup, while Richmond RCMP investigates.
