Enough Christmas cheer to bring down the house

You’d think that with the Christmas-shopping rush malls would be well equipped for massive crowds. But this week a Westfield mall in Roseville, Calif., was evacuated after so many choral singers gathered to perform Handel “Hallelujah” that concern arose that the building would collapse.

From CNN:

The Sacramento Choral Society was holding what police called a “well-publicized” event to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus” in the mall’s food court, scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“Come join our large Chorus of area Singers as they burst into Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus much to the surprise and delight of Shoppers in the Food Court of the recently reopened Westfield Galleria at Roseville,” the society’s website trumpeted ahead of the event.

But less than an hour beforehand, too many people had crowded into the mall.

“At 6:45 p.m., the Roseville Police and Fire communications center received reports that people in the food court heard popping noises and felt floor movement,” a police statement said.

Inspectors later found the building to be safe and choral singers moved their festivities to the parking lot.

Coincidentally, this is the same mall that sustained severe burns after a man set part of it on fire during a standoff with police.