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Three people were killed and two injured today when scaffolding came crashing down on Boston’s Boylston Street in a construction accident that sent eyewitnesses running from the terrifying collapse.
Two people were killed as they walked by and another victim was killed in a car during the 1:18 p.m. tragedy, fire officials said.
An enormous amount of scaffolding came raining down on the street below from as high as the 14th floor of an Emerson College building undergoing construction. A lift used to hoist building materials to upper floors was also said to be involved.
A man who witnessed the scaffolding falling apart said it all seemed to start in slow motion.
“I looked up and saw it falling. It was falling slow at first,” he told the Herald. “There was a construction worker lying on the ground and he was in a pool of blood.”
On the street, police were trying to determine if a woman was trapped in a Honda Civic. Sections of the scaffolding had dropped on the roof of the car.
A Boston Emergency Medical Services commander on the scene reported the fatalities. A press conference was expected.
“It’s terrible,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino told the Associated Press. The mayor drove to the accident site.
The terrifying sound of the collapsing scaffolding was the first sign of serious trouble, witnesses said.
Betsy Doherty, a manager of Remington’s Restaurant on Boylston Street, said everybody heard a “big crash” and realized something had gone terribly wrong.
“I went outside. A crane had collapsed straight across the street. This one little car was crushed,” she told the Herald. “They’ve closed the street and the alley and a lot of ambulances and police are around.”
She said the cranes were building dorms at Emerson College.
“I just got a sick feeling in my stomach hoping no one was hurt,” she added.
Traffic in the area was completely backed up and large crowds gathered near the Common.
Two people were killed as they walked by and another victim was killed in a car during the 1:18 p.m. tragedy, fire officials said.
An enormous amount of scaffolding came raining down on the street below from as high as the 14th floor of an Emerson College building undergoing construction. A lift used to hoist building materials to upper floors was also said to be involved.
A man who witnessed the scaffolding falling apart said it all seemed to start in slow motion.
“I looked up and saw it falling. It was falling slow at first,” he told the Herald. “There was a construction worker lying on the ground and he was in a pool of blood.”
On the street, police were trying to determine if a woman was trapped in a Honda Civic. Sections of the scaffolding had dropped on the roof of the car.
A Boston Emergency Medical Services commander on the scene reported the fatalities. A press conference was expected.
“It’s terrible,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino told the Associated Press. The mayor drove to the accident site.
The terrifying sound of the collapsing scaffolding was the first sign of serious trouble, witnesses said.
Betsy Doherty, a manager of Remington’s Restaurant on Boylston Street, said everybody heard a “big crash” and realized something had gone terribly wrong.
“I went outside. A crane had collapsed straight across the street. This one little car was crushed,” she told the Herald. “They’ve closed the street and the alley and a lot of ambulances and police are around.”
She said the cranes were building dorms at Emerson College.
“I just got a sick feeling in my stomach hoping no one was hurt,” she added.
Traffic in the area was completely backed up and large crowds gathered near the Common.
According to the latest, no one from my college was killed. It happened at 1:10 - if it had happened at 12:45, when classes got out, it would have been a lot worse. The scaffold crashed right on to a makeshift tunnel for pedestrians that me and thousands of other students use.
I was in acting class about four buildings away. When we found out, it was surreal.
This has been a strange time, what with the Emerson student being killed by police after the ALCS last year.
- at least it gave you something to ponder about instead of the crash 
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