Hyatt hotel hid collapse of a roof, paper says

July 24, 1981

Officials at the Hyatt Regency Hotel -- scene of the skywalk disaster that killed 113 people -- hushed up the collapse of a section of its atrium roof eight months before the hotel opened, the Kansas City Times reported. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration records show that a large section of the hotel's east atrium roof fell four stories into its lobby in October 1979 , the newspaper said. At the time, it was reported only that a 16-foot steel beam had fallen.

Meanwhile, officials at the hotel hinted it would reopen soon and the internal Revenue Service reportedly was investigating alleged payoffs to city building inspectors dur ing the hotel's construction.