BOSTON -- A worker was hurt Thursday morning when a ceiling collapsed at a Rockland church.

Emergency crews said the collapse happened at Holy Family Church at 403 Union Street.

Construction workers were fixing a bowed ceiling in church's lower chapel when the ceiling fell in.

An identification on the worker was not immediately given, but he was taken by medical helicopter to Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital in Boston with serious back injuries, authorities said.

It was unclear what caused the collapse, but two workers were involved. One was trapped under the rubble but the other managed to extricate himself.

The chapel in the church had been closed to public for several days because church officials noticed the ceiling was bowed.

The workers were there to fix it when it fell in on them. Two other workers were in downstairs chapel but were not injured.