New York – Two pedestrians were injured when a building’s outer wall collapsed on them yesterday. The accident occurred when heavy winds made the brick wall buckle and fall onto the sidewalk below. The young victims were left with lacerations and other unspecified wounds. They were rescued for emergency teams from the police and fire departments and taken to the hospital for treatment. The New York City buildings department explained that the owner of the building did not properly maintain the store front and therefore issued a ticket to the owner. Building safety falls under the jurisdiction of that department but it was unclear if the wall had been inspected by them prior to it falling onto the children. Negligent maintenance or neglect of public safety can easily lead to injuries or death, as can be seen from other recent building collapse cases. Besides improper maintenance, a building collapse can occur during construction, as occurred in this case in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

Public safety activists in New York insist that weak building structures can be found throughout the area and this needs to be addressed. They say that the owners, mayor’s office, building department and fire department each have a responsibility to inspect and condemn any building or facade that presents a dangerous situation for innocent bystanders. More importantly, these hazards should be fixed before another accident with injuries occurs from another building or wall collapse. You can read about yet another construction accident that killed a worker here. If you or someone you know was injured due to someone’s negligence, you have the right to speak to an injury lawyer for advice.

Photo by Sanseiya (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons