One Construction Worker Dead and One Injured After Manhattan Wall Collapse
Monday morning, the rubble of a wall collapsed at a Manhattan site killed one construction worker and injured another.
The victims of a fatal wall collapse were working on a mixed-use development at 60 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side. The event happened just after 10 a.m. Monday morning.
The two workers were rushed to a hospital, where one of the victims was pronounced dead. The other is in serious condition as of Monday.
Witnesses of the fall described it as a slow-motion fall, and some thought it was a deliberate demolition. However, when they heard cries for help, it became evident the fall was not intentional.
The site was part of a large construction project with multiple pending buildings. In May 2017, the synagogue at the site burned in a fire. The existing project on the site will eventually include a 30-story tower and a 16-story building on Norfolk Street, as well as a new synagogue that incorporates the burned-out structure.
In terms of what caused the disastrous collapse, inspectors from the Department of Buildings (DOB) are currently investigating on site. “DOB experts in structural engineering and emergency response are on scene conducting an aggressive investigation of this tragedy,” the DOB said in a statement. “Every worker who leaves for the job site in the morning deserves to come home safely at night. We will provide updates as our investigation progresses.”
According to an ABC7 article, the preliminary investigation determined no imminent danger of further collapse. However, structural stability inspections are ongoing.