Melvin Maxwell, 16, said his mother, Yolanda, had just stood up to speak Thursday night when he heard a crack.

"The floor just sank in," he said. "We fell right in the cellar."

The most serious injuries were two women, ages 50 and 78, who were taken to hospitals with leg and ankle injuries, city police spokesman Brian Talsma said. Several others suffered minor injuries and rode with family members to a hospital to be checked out.

Two beams below the wooden floor apparently snapped about 7:30 p.m., opening a hole about 12 feet (3 1/2 meters) across, Talsma said.

The Rev. Carl Walker, the church's pastor, said he did not know of any previous structural problems with the building.

The building is about 100 years old and church members apparently did not know the lower level even existed, Talsma said.