Investigation into North Stand glass collapse

Safety officials from Sunderland City Council are to investigate what caused glass panels in the upper tier of the Stadium of Light's north stand to collapse onto spectators in the lower tier during last Saturday's league match against Walsall.

Although the vast majority of the glass panelling stayed in place, some glass did fall onto spectators below and two people received minor injuries, but both received treatment from first-aiders and were able to move to different seats in the stadium to continue watching the match.

Other supporters in the area were also moved to safe seats.

The Stadium was awarded its annual safety certificate by the Council in August, but a club spokesman said yesterday that it had contacted the club about the incident and had been assured that all necessary work will be completed before tonight's home match against Rotherham.

A spokesman for SAFC said "The Stadium of Light has a number of safety barriers around the front of the upper tier that are in place to ensure the safety of fans moving up and down the stairways.

"These barriers are made of toughened safety glass, which meets the required safety standards, and are approved by the local authority.

There was an incident at the match on Saturday, where a safety barrier fractured for no apparent reason. We are now fully investigating the incident with the help of structural engineers and the local authority in the hope of ascertaining why this occurred.

"Following this the Club will, of course, do everything possible to prevent any recurrence."