Thursday, 4:30 PM
Scaffolding collapse kills three in downtown Boston
By Raja Mishra, Globe staff
and Liz Raftery, Globe correspondent
Scaffolding on a Emerson College dormitory under construction collapsed in downtown Boston this afternoon, killing three people, officials said.
The hydraulic scaffolding was attached to a building near the intersection of Boylston and Charles streets when it fell just after 1 p.m. Authorities said they had not identified the three people killed. Dozens of fire department, police, and emergency medical personnel were at the scene.
"We're stabilizing the scene," said Boston fire department spokesman Lt. David Pfeil. "We're trying to move some of the debris."
Witnesses said that the scaffolding, which stone workers were using to apply stone material to the building, flattened at least one car.
"It just came down flying from the front of the building and crushed a car," said Wayne Cote. "There was somebody in the car."
James White, 39, a technician from Dorchester, said he was driving to his next call on Boylston Street when the collapse happened. "All I heard was a crackling noise and then I saw the scaffolding fall off the building."
He said he got out of his car and was trying to help the people in the cars.
"People were telling me not to move the scaffolding," White said. "Both of the people that I seen, neither was talking. One of them had a lot more blood coming, and the other was unconscious."
The incident paralyzed traffic on a warm spring day in downtown, drawing hundreds of people to the scene of destruction, in which crane parts, brick, debris, and crushed cars were splayed in the roadway. The crane fell over near an Emerson College building, along a busy thoroughfare along the Boston Common.
