Three visitors were injured and taken to hospital on Monday 2nd August following the collapse of an iceberg wall at the Pigeon Forge Titanic Museum. The museum features a replica of the doomed ship and the display, made of ice grown and regrown using a water filtration system, allowed visitors to “touch a real iceberg”.
“Our iceberg wall collapsed and injured three guests, who were taken to the hospital,” said owners Mary Kellogg Joslyn and John Joslyn on the museum’s Facebook page. “At this time, we do not know the extent of their injuries, and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all who were affected, including the first-responders.
“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.”
Wall size of small outdoor swimming pool
Gwendolyn Ducre, reporting for WVLT explained that the wall was the “size of a small outdoor swimming pool”, around 15ft by 28ft (4.6×8.5 metres). “You can walk up to it – it’s real ice,” she said, adding that the wall “grows every day – it grows wider and larger.”
The museum closed immediately following the collapse of the wall but reopened on Tuesday. It’s estimated that rebuilding the wall will take approximately four weeks.
“The iceberg wall does not currently exist, and the affected area has been blocked off, for the time being. We anticipate it will take at least four weeks for the iceberg to rebuild,” said the Joslyns. While the vast majority of visitors to the attraction’s Facebook page expressed shock and sent good wishes and prayers for those affected, a few couldn’t resist a joke.
“God please let there [sic] names be Rose and Jack,” quipped Kris Russell.
“So it melted?” said Moose Chris. “Just another example of Global Warming,” Jeff Fed responded.
No further details on the visitors’ injuries have been given to date.
Not the only Titanic replica
The Titanic Museum has a sister attraction based at Branson, Missouri. In addition a huge replica of the doomed ship is being built at The Romandsea theme park in Sichuan at a cost of $153.3 million.
The park is also constructing an immersive water amusement park, Heart of the Ocean.