16 Injured by Collapse of San Diego Construction Site Pedestrian Walkway

By Aaron Poehler

Published on August 29, 2008

A covered, wooden pedestrian walkway collapsed at a construction site in downtown San Diego Thursday and injured 16 people, three critically.

The accident at 15th Street and Imperial Avenue occurred around noon at a three-story building currently undergoing construction and surrounded by scaffolding intended to protect passersby from construction debris. Witnesses said the scaffolding began moving back and forth in an unstable fashion before collapsing to the sidewalk. No construction workers were injured in the incident, though two minors are reportedly listed among the injured along with several residents of a nearby homeless shelter.

A spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department stated that the victims were transported to two area hospitals, Mercy Hospital and UCSD Medical Center, by nine ambulances. The 16 victims range in age from 16 to 64, though most are in their mid-40s and mid-50s. The critically injured victims of the accident include two women, ages 57 and 60, as well as a 50-year-old man.

The general contractor for the site was given as Carlsbad-based Allgire General Contractors. Causes for the accident are still unknown; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the incident to determine what factors led to the scaffold's collapse.

 

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