Two Trapped In Fatal Wall Collapse At Brooklyn Construction Site
Dec. 28, 2020, 3:53 p.m.
The first responders found that a 10-foot brick retention wall in property's backyard had collapsed, trapping at least two workers underneath.
One construction worker was killed and another was seriously injured after a brick wall collapsed in Sunset Park on Monday afternoon.
The FDNY said they responded to a call around 1:30 p.m. about a construction crew trapped under debris at 454 42nd Street in Brooklyn. The first responders found that a 10-foot retention wall in the property's backyard had crumbled on at least two workers.
One of the men was pronounced dead at the scene; another was extricated and transported to the hospital with serious injuries, according to authorities.
Both the NYPD and the FDNY had sealed off the area on Monday morning, and the Department of Buildings was investigating.
"There might have been some work going on, we don't have a handle on what type of work that was," the FDNY spokesperson said.
City records show that the building owner had installed a retention wall in 2004, without proper permits, in order to raise her flower bed. There are no active construction permits at the listed property.
On Monday, the Department of Emergency Management initiated a structural stability inspection due to a partial wall collapse.
In 2018, construction worker Luis Sanchez Almonte was killed in a masonry wall collapse in Sunset Park. The subcontractor in that instance was charged with manslaughter, after allegedly ignoring multiple safety warnings.