‘New Kid’ Donnie Wahlberg Hurt After Falling Through Trap Door

A member of the New Kids on the Block singing group was hospitalized today after suffering injuries during a performance, apparently after falling through a trap door on the stage floor, officials said.

Donnie Wahlberg, 20, suffered bruises on his chest and cuts on his arms and mouth when he crashed through an unsealed trap door late in Sunday night’s concert at the Saratoga Raceway, said Skip Carlson, director of publicity for the raceway.

“I was told the door just gave way and he went down through it,” Carlson said, adding he wasn’t sure exactly what happened.

Wahlberg was admitted to Saratoga Hospital about midnight for treatment, said Helen Edelman, director of community relations for the hospital. She said his condition was stable.

Edelman said fans had been appearing at the hospital all morning and that “balloons and flowers from hundreds of well-wishers are on the way.”

She did not know when Wahlberg would be released.

Wahlberg, of Beech Tree, Mass., is one of five New Kids, a group known for its tightly choreographed shows and rabid teen-age following.

More than 30,000 screaming fans turned out for the outdoor concert at the harness horse track. Emergency medical workers treated 18 people for heat exhaustion and four of them were taken to Saratoga Hospital.

Concert promoters could not immediately be reached to say whether the injury would curtail the New Kids’ tour schedule. Sunday’s show was the second on the tour.