2 injured in Strawberry Mansion building collapse
STRAWBERRY MANSION (WPVI) -- Two workers were injured after a building collapse in the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia.
The collapse happened around 10:40 a.m. in the 3000 block of West Diamond Street.
Rescuers say the building was under demolition when a wall fell from an adjacent property, hitting those two workers.
The workers have been taken to Hahnemann University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
"A brick maybe six feet long fell on top of the workers," said witness Corey Butler. "They weren't even working on this section of the house when the brick fell, so I figured maybe it was wind that made the brick fall. But it was a freak accident, wrong place at the wrong time."
"As long as I've been asking them to tear this building down, if they would have done it when I asked them about 20 years ago maybe this wouldn't have happened," said Rudy Branch of Strawberry Mansion.
Inspectors from L&I said the demolition work was being done properly and under city regulations.
"The property was partially collapsed and that's why the city did step in, it just recently came to our attention," said Scott Mulderig of L&I.
Meanwhile, L&I says there is a list of 500 imminently dangerous properties citywide that must be demolished soon for the sake of public safety.
