Three workers were injured — one seriously — when a wall collapsed during construction of an apparent add-on to a Sheepshead Bay home this afternoon, fire officials said.
One of the victims, a man in his 40’s, was reportedly trapped in the trench, buried up to his chest in dirt and hundreds of pounds of cinder blocks. He was taken to New York Community Hospital on Kings Highway, but his injuries were not life-threatening, fire officials said.
Two other men who were with him in the trench were not trapped and were taken to Maimonides Medical Center with minor injuries, officials said.
The collapse occurred at around 12:09 pm in the rear of 1925 East 14th St. — a one-family, two-story home in Sheepshead Bay. Firefighters and emergency service police arrived on the scene to find two of the men already out of the trench, with injuries and another worker still trapped up against a cinder block wall that had collapsed on the side of the house.
Crews were eventually able to remove the debris from around the man and get him treatment.
Fire officials say the wall appeared to be part of the home and it was unclear what exactly the work crews were doing when the collapse occurred. Officials surmise that the construction crew was building an extension to the home and creating a foundation. It was unclear whether there were proper permits issued for the construction and Department of Buildings inspectors were called to the scene.
A stop-work order was given to the construction company, whose name was not immediately known because there were no permits visible on the site.
This story first appeared on amny.com.
