The management at a branch of News Café in Woodmead, Johannesburg confirmed this morning that a ceiling collapsed at the popular chain restaurant, resulting in one person being injured and taken to hospital.

The portion of the ceiling in question was undergoing renovations, and the area below the ceiling had been cleared of furniture, however the construction designer was in the vicinity when the collapse happened and was unfortunately injured. 15 patrons were seated inside the restaurant at the time of the collapse, but thankfully none of them were hurt.

Radio and TV host Jeremy Mansfield happened to be there at the time, and posted a dramatic picture on Facebook.

Regarding the unfortunate incident, Varina Singh, Marketing Manager for the brand responded: “News Café sincerely apologises for the unfortunate incident that took place at our Woodmead store. We are in contact with the onsite construction company, Soda Creations who is responsible for the renovations and aesthetic changes at the store. While we can confirm that a part of the ceiling collapsed at approximately 11am this morning, we are awaiting their full report to determine exactly what happened.”

A video posted by Mpho (@mphoreza) on Mar 16, 2016 at 2:18am PDT

News Café expressed their regret about the incident and wished the injured man a speedy recovery. “We also sincerely apologise to our patrons who were inconvenienced and traumatised by the incident.”

As a safety precaution for future patrons, the News Café branch has subsequently been closed to the public while an independent engineering consultant will assess the entire restaurant and conduct a safety audit to ensure that everything is returned to safe, working order.

Eat Out would also like to wish the injured man a speedy recovery.