BOSTON — Emergency crews have responded to a reported structural collapse at a construction site in South Boston.
Police said that “multiple” people were trapped after a floor collapsed.
Update 12:21 a.m. EDT May 5: Boston Fire Commissioner Jack Dempsey said emergency crews were called to the Edison Power Plant building around 1:40 p.m. EDT. Two injured workers were removed immediately and one worker was trapped in the rubble, WFXT-TV reported.
Dempsey said the worker who was trapped had part of a wall leaning on his lower legs. He was freed after more than three hours and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the television station.
“Demolition drops are very dangerous. Probably more dangerous than putting buildings up,” Dempsey told reporters.
Dempsey added that the building is old and has experienced other problems over time, WFXT reported.
“We’ve had a lot of serious problems with this building over the years,” Dempsey told reporters. “I recall way back, we had a nine-alarm fire here, so this is nothing new to us.”
Original report: Boston EMS said that as of 3:35 p.m. two people had been taken to the hospital and a third person was being cared for on the scene and crews were working to “extricate” that worker.
“We have multiple units on scene for the structural collapse at the Edison Power Plant building in South Boston. This remains an active incident with more details to follow,” according to a statement from EMS posted on social media.
The collapse occurred at a building at 776 Summer Street in South Boston, according to WFXT.
The construction site is being developed as a retail, housing, and commercial space by Hilco Development into a project called “L Street Station”
“This 1.68 million square foot mixed-use development project will bring new energy to the Boston Harbor waterfront, adding jobs and creating new community open space for the South Boston neighborhood. The project includes new retail, housing and commercial space using best-in-class environmental sustainability standards and incorporates resilient site design that will create nearly 6 acres of open space throughout the site, including a new 2.5-acre public park along the waterfront,” according to the company’s website.