Wall Collapse At 656 Myrtle Avenue Injures Two, Kills One Construction Worker

One young construction worker was killed and two others were seriously injured  after a wall collapsed at a demolition site at 656 Myrtle Avenue, between Franklin Avenue and Skillman Street, say police and fire officials.

It was around 11:37am today (Thursday, September 3) when the collapse occurred and all three men were rushed to Brooklyn Hospital and Methodist Hospital, said a fire department spokesperson.

One of those injured was a 19-year-old man, who later died at Brooklyn Hospital. His identity has yet to be released, pending family notification. The other two workers injured are listed as being in stable condition at Kings County Hospital.

According to the New York Daily News, three adjacent buildings are also now in danger of collapse.

FDNY Chief John Rozas said three adjoining buildings were in jeopardy of collapse.

“They were underpinning a foundation, it looks like, and they didn’t have it supported properly and the bottom of the wall kicked out and the top tumbled down,” Rozas said.

Chandler said permits were issued in July to build a new five-story residential structure on the site.

The city Buildings Department had issued a stop-work order on the building almost a year ago. When a permit was granted for the new work, the stop-work order was vacated.

“The good thing is: People had taken out permits and done the right thing to repair the building,” Chandler said. “That’s what we like to see. Unfortunately, it appears they took more of a risk than they should have doing this excavation.”

Updated to reflect the death of one of the workers.