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Union Square Scaffolding Collapse Kills Five, at Least 20 Hurt

NEW YORK CITY-The worst construction accident in years killed five construction workers and sent more than a dozen people to the hospital yesterday afternoon. The facade of a 20-story office building collapsed, knocking some workers seven stories to the ground and trapping others in a three-story tangle of brick and steel.

By Glen Thompson | Updated on October 25, 2001

NEW YORK CITY-Five construction workers were killed and at least 20 injured yesterday when the brick façade of a Union Square-area office building collapsed. Scaffolding at the site fell when it was hit from above by the crumbling wall, sending five workers to their deaths. Dozens of others were trapped in the debris piled in the building’s rear courtyard.

Police and fire department sources say everyone trapped in the wreckage at 215 Park Avenue South was rescued. There are reports of 12 injuries to workers at the 20-story building, which is located at 17th Street near Union Square. Eight firefighters and three police officers were also hurt in the accident. All were sent to local hospitals for treatment.

“We have 14 stories worth of scaffolding that has collapsed and is compressed into roughly three stories. It’s very tight,” said fire dept. assistant chief Harold Meyers, who was at the scene of the collapse, which occurred yesterday at around 5 p.m. Police and fire department rescue crews were called up from the World Trade Center site to help find and pull out the trapped workers. Bloodhounds and heat-seeking devices were used to locate survivors. Officials asked the crowd that had gathered at the site for silence so that rescue workers could listen for voices in the rubble.

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