Five people have been taken to hospital, with what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries, after a building collapsed in the east Mayo village of Kilkelly.
Emergency services were on the scene before 9am after 100-year-old pub collapsed while a visiting family were inside.
The family had been staying in an apartment above it at the time, and locals said it was a "miracle" there were no fatalities.
A mother and two young daughters, along with her father and his partner, were staying in the accommodation for an anniversary mass taking place locally.
Ryan MacSherry, whose parents run a business across the road, described the scene of destruction in the small village as unbelievable.
"My family gave our CCTV footage to the gardaí and we saw the people tumbling out of the window. It was quite shocking," he said.
All escaped with injuries that were described as non-serious.
One of the women suffered a fracture after being trapped beneath rubble for around half an hour. She was taken to safety and all of them are said to be recovering well.
It is thought that a construction van parked outside the pub broke the fall as they fell from their beds on sliding mattresses.
Locals said that if the van had not been positioned in that place the outcome may have been different.
Joe Duffy, whose family own the pub, said his elderly parents and siblings feel gutted and are lost for words.
He said: "I don't know what to say. My parents had this pub for so long. I work in Dublin and was down here at the weekend having a few pints.
"The memories of a lifetime are gone, people loved Mam and Dad, loved this pub. There was 11 pubs here once and only a handful remain. But at the end of the day everyone survived and that's what matters most."
Power in the village was knocked out as a result of the incident but has been fully restored since.
Councillor John Caulfield said the village awoke to devastation and destruction and said it was nothing short of a miracle that everybody escaped alive.
The Health and Safety Authority have attended the scene and an investigation into the incident is under way
Main Street in Kilkelly remains closed and local diversions are in place.
