Ceiling collapses down on packed Philippines theatre

Heavy rains brought down the ceiling of a new cinema in the Philippines last night during an exclusive screening by an Australian theatre company.

Australia-based theatre group Dreamscape was showing a film to around 350 people when the roof of the picture theatre at the Ayala Center Cebu in Cebu City came crashing down.

Pillars of water streamed in through the ceiling of the packed theatre before the structure gave way and panels crashed onto the crowd below.

Remarkably, only six people were injured by the collapse, according to news site Rappler.

Dreamscape COO Mark Evans said spectators saw and heard sparks before the ceiling caved in on the crowd.

"It took 25 minutes until help came from Ayala management. I was pulling people out of the debris," Evans, who suffered cuts in his hands, said.

The cinema is part of a new expansion at the Ayala Center Cebu.

Management said in a statement: "At around 8:50 in the evening today, a part of the ceiling fell during an exclusive movie screening at Cinema 5.

"We are currently investigating the cause of the incident."