Five workers were injured Friday when a Midtown parking deck that was under construction partially collapsed, authorities said.
The focus then shifted to finding the cause and making sure the area was safe enough to avoid further injuries.
“They’re going to have to bring structural engineers to determine the safety aspect of it: Can it be occupied? Can it not be occupied?” fire department Assistant Chief Dwayne Johnson said at the scene.
Firefighters responded to the deck at the intersection of West Peachtree Street and Linden Avenue around noon, Johnson said. Investigators believe a portion of the 11th floor collapsed onto the 10th, but a cause wasn’t immediately determined.
Within 18 minutes, everyone who had been temporarily trapped were out of the wreckage and moved to a safer location, Johnson said. Officers helped barricade the area to prevent others from getting near the damage, he said.
“Once we got everyone down, we triaged them to make sure everything was medically OK," Johnson said.
Of the five injured workers, four were able to get down on their own. A fifth man was placed on a stretcher and lowered to the ground with a crane after crews lifted him out of the rubble.
Alyssa Pointer
Alyssa Pointer
Firefighters said the worker’s legs were injured when a portion of the prefabricated concrete collapsed on top of him, but he never lost consciousness. The trapped workers, whose names were not released, were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown, though none of their injuries were believed to be life-threatening.
Late Friday, the collapse remained under investigation and engineers were assessing the safety in the area.
Alyssa Pointer
Alyssa Pointer
“Right now there’s no danger because we don’t see the whole wall collapse coming," a fire official told reporters at the scene. “But you never can tell what will happen, so we’re not taking any chances.”
At a law office nearby, a receptionist said she didn’t see the collapse, but she did see the aftermath and the panicked construction workers.
“All I saw really was a piece of the big slab of concrete just fall and dust. That’s it,” Maria Louis said. “I didn’t see the actual collapse. I just saw what fell off the collapse.”
Within minutes, as many as 20 fire trucks and police cars arrived, she said.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
Alyssa Pointer
Alyssa Pointer
