Ceiling Collapses at Montgomery Mall

This story originally appeared in  The Churchill Observer , the student newspaper of Winston Churchill High School.

Tragedy struck Westfield Montgomery Mall May 23 when around 2 pm the garage that was under construction collapsed.

One of the 50,000 pound concrete slabs which had already been put in place collapsed after a failure of its supports. At least three workers were trapped under the slab, one died instantly, one was rushed to the hospital and one was still missing as of 5:30 pm May 23.

Search and rescue arrive quickly on the scene with 2 trench digging teams beginning digging around 3 pm around the structure with plans to dig on through the night to make sure no one else is under the structure.

According to an NBC News 4 article, the first media to arrive on the scene, many other construction workers received minor injuries from the collapse.

Twenty three year resident of the Chelsea Tower condominium, located across the street from the mall, Claudia Fenwick heard the commotion from the helicopters and went to check out the scene.

According to Fenwick it’s terrifying to think that this could happen and she is now nervous about the strength of the old structure.

“I wouldn’t eat in the food court if the structures are connected” Fenwick said.

Police officers blocked off Westlake Drive, all entrances into the parking structure and were instructed to shut down all traffic coming into the mall.

“It’s a sad scene for the guys trapped there,” police office on scene V. Schiller said. “Hopefully they will get them out soon and to the hospital.”