200-pound prop tree falls, injures 3 kids in ‘Magic Treehouse’ play

Three children were hurt Tuesday when a 200-pound prop collapsed during a production of the San Diego Junior Theatre in Balboa Park, police said.

The children, each of whom is either 9 or 10 years old, were participating in a “Magic Treehouse” production when they were hit by the onstage tree.

One child, with injuries described as minor, was rushed to Kaiser Medical Center. Two others were taken to Rady Children’s Hospital. The latter were talking and breathing but not moving, police said.

The injuries were “non-life threatening,” according to the Fire-Rescue Department, which aided in the evacuation. Two of the children were in the tree when it collapsed.

The play, “Magic Treehouse: Dinosaurs Before Dark,” was canceled, and parents of the children notified. After an emergency call was placed, police were on scene within seven minutes.

Established in 1948 at the suggestion of Old Globe Theatre impresario Craig Noel, San Diego Junior Theatre uses the Casa del Prado theatre in Balboa Park. Children are involved in all facets of the productions.

Among Junior Theatre’s “graduates” are Dennis Hopper, Raquel Welch, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Victor Buono and Christian Hoff.

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