The Titanic Museum Attraction in the US left three visitors injured after a large wall of ice collapsed.
The tourist hotspot in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains calls itself the world’s largest museum tribute to the famous ship which sunk a century ago.
The local fire department arrived at 8.11pm on Monday after receiving a call about the incident.
One person was airlifted to a medical centre 30 miles away, while the other two were taken by ambulance to a local medical centre – their current conditions are not known.
The wall of ice is a large part of the museum as it represents the iceberg which triggered the dramatic sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
While guests are usually permitted to touch the feature, it is not clear exactly what triggered the accident earlier this week.
Firefighter chief Tony L Watson told CNN: “Something caused that ice to fall off of that wall.”
It’s thought the wall will take four weeks to rebuild.
The museum staff quickly closed the tourist attraction and helped get members of the public out of the building.
Mary Kellogg Joslyn and John Joslyn, the museum owners, released a Facebook statement which read: “Needless to say, we never would have expected an incident like this to occur as the safety of our guests and crew members are always top of mind.
“We take pride in the quality of our maintenance and have measures in place to ensure that appropriate safety guidelines are upheld.”
According to the site’s Facebook page, the museum reopened on Tuesday for those with tickets.
The wall of ice will be off–limits until repaired but visitors will still be able to enjoy other features, including the chance to put their hands in freezing cold water which simulates the conditions the Titanic’s passengers endured after the ship capsized.
They also receive boarding passes featuring the names of actual passengers or crew who were aboard the famous vessel during its tragic maiden voyage.
