Advertisement
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is investigating a partial collapse of the Government Center parking garage in Boston, which led to the death of a construction worker.Boston Fire Commissioner Jack Dempsey said his department received a call at about 5:40 p.m. reporting a building collapse at 1 Congress St., which is in the Haymarket area of the city.NewsCenter 5’s Emily Maher, who was in the North End reporting on a different story, said she saw multiple floors of the parking garage — part of which was being demolished — come crashing down between 5:35 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. According to Dempsey, the victim was doing demolition work inside the parking garage in a construction vehicle — which Dempsey described as a Bobcat/jackhammer — when the floor buckled underneath the vehicle.Dempsey said that according to witnesses, the vehicle was approaching the edge of the building when the floor collapsed.After the floor buckled, the construction vehicle — with the worker still inside — went over the side of the parking garage and fell nine stories.In a statement confirming the fatal accident at its One Congress Street job site, John Moriarty & Associates said the death happened at about 5:30 p.m. when a concrete slab on the ninth floor on the east side of the Haymarket Garage collapsed onto the eighth floor.The subcontractors working demolition at the time were evacuated from the building and the site has been temporarily shut down.Firefighters found the worker at the bottom of a pile of rubble and Boston Emergency Medical Services personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the worker who died as a result of the collapse was a young man, but did not identify him.“This is a horrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the family and loved ones of the worker,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.”Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences go out to the loved ones of the worker who lost his life,” reads the statement from John Moriarty & Associates. “JMA remains committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all our employees and trade partners. We would like to thank the Boston Police Department and EMS for their swift response.”Dempsey said crews are working to recover the victim’s body, but they will not have firefighters go near the scene to recover the body until the Boston Inspectional Services department deems it safe to do so.Boston EMS officials said a second person, a passerby who did not appear to be physically injured, was transported to an area hospital. Their condition is not known at this time. One man who witnessed the collapse told Maher that he could hear the sound of jackhammers just moments before he saw some parts of the parking garage collapse.”The open half just collapsed. It couldn’t be on purpose. It had to be an accident,” that witness said.A woman who heard the collapse said it sounded like continuous thunder.A photo shared with NewsCenter 5 via Twitter showed what appeared to be the heavy construction equipment described by Dempsey trapped under concrete rubble. A multitude of Boston police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, along with Massachusetts State Police troopers, responded to the scene.Boston police warned that vehicular and pedestrian traffic was impacted in the surrounding areas.The MBTA said one shuttle bus route is serving both the Orange and Green lines this weekend, and that the shuttle bus stop at Haymarket is being bypassed due to police activity in the area. MBTA customers are advised to stop at Government Center as an alternate. An MBTA spokesperson reiterated that no trains were running in the subway tunnels in the area where the partial parking garage collapse happened.The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office will be involved in the investigation of the worker’s death, along with numerous local, state and federal agencies, including OSHA.”Our office is a stone’s throw away from the garage and our staff has watched through their office windows all the work being done these many months. To know that one of the workers on this project has tragically died weighs heavy on our hearts. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends,” reads a statement from the DA’s Office.Parking garage project historyThe demolition of the Government Center parking garage has been going on for several years.Demo work initially began in December 2016 as part of a project to construct a six-building, mix-used development called Bulfinch Crossing.The Bulfinch Crossing project includes a 1 million-square-foot office tower, a hotel and what will be Boston’s tallest apartment tower at 45 stories.
BOSTON —
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is investigating a partial collapse of the Government Center parking garage in Boston, which led to the death of a construction worker.
Boston Fire Commissioner Jack Dempsey said his department received a call at about 5:40 p.m. reporting a building collapse at 1 Congress St., which is in the Haymarket area of the city.
NewsCenter 5’s Emily Maher, who was in the North End reporting on a different story, said she saw multiple floors of the parking garage — part of which was being demolished — come crashing down between 5:35 p.m. and 5:40 p.m.
According to Dempsey, the victim was doing demolition work inside the parking garage in a construction vehicle — which Dempsey described as a Bobcat/jackhammer — when the floor buckled underneath the vehicle.
Dempsey said that according to witnesses, the vehicle was approaching the edge of the building when the floor collapsed.
After the floor buckled, the construction vehicle — with the worker still inside — went over the side of the parking garage and fell nine stories.
In a statement confirming the fatal accident at its One Congress Street job site, John Moriarty & Associates said the death happened at about 5:30 p.m. when a concrete slab on the ninth floor on the east side of the Haymarket Garage collapsed onto the eighth floor.
The subcontractors working demolition at the time were evacuated from the building and the site has been temporarily shut down.
Firefighters found the worker at the bottom of a pile of rubble and Boston Emergency Medical Services personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the worker who died as a result of the collapse was a young man, but did not identify him.
“This is a horrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the family and loved ones of the worker,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
“Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences go out to the loved ones of the worker who lost his life,” reads the statement from John Moriarty & Associates. “JMA remains committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all our employees and trade partners. We would like to thank the Boston Police Department and EMS for their swift response.”
Dempsey said crews are working to recover the victim’s body, but they will not have firefighters go near the scene to recover the body until the Boston Inspectional Services department deems it safe to do so.
Boston EMS officials said a second person, a passerby who did not appear to be physically injured, was transported to an area hospital. Their condition is not known at this time.
One man who witnessed the collapse told Maher that he could hear the sound of jackhammers just moments before he saw some parts of the parking garage collapse.
“The open half just collapsed. It couldn’t be on purpose. It had to be an accident,” that witness said.
A woman who heard the collapse said it sounded like continuous thunder.
A photo shared with NewsCenter 5 via Twitter showed what appeared to be the heavy construction equipment described by Dempsey trapped under concrete rubble.
A multitude of Boston police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, along with Massachusetts State Police troopers, responded to the scene.
Boston police warned that vehicular and pedestrian traffic was impacted in the surrounding areas.
The MBTA said one shuttle bus route is serving both the Orange and Green lines this weekend, and that the shuttle bus stop at Haymarket is being bypassed due to police activity in the area. MBTA customers are advised to stop at Government Center as an alternate.
An MBTA spokesperson reiterated that no trains were running in the subway tunnels in the area where the partial parking garage collapse happened.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office will be involved in the investigation of the worker’s death, along with numerous local, state and federal agencies, including OSHA.
“Our office is a stone’s throw away from the garage and our staff has watched through their office windows all the work being done these many months. To know that one of the workers on this project has tragically died weighs heavy on our hearts. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends,” reads a statement from the DA’s Office.
Parking garage project history
The demolition of the Government Center parking garage has been going on for several years.
Demo work initially began in December 2016 as part of a project to construct a six-building, mix-used development called Bulfinch Crossing.
The Bulfinch Crossing project includes a 1 million-square-foot office tower, a hotel and what will be Boston’s tallest apartment tower at 45 stories.