Building Collapse In East Boston Forces Nearby Buildings To Evacuate
BOSTON (CBS) -- A building collapse on Winthrop Street in Boston called for several surrounding buildings to be evacuated while crews responded midday on Sunday.
The Boston Fire Department told WBZ-TV the evacuations occurred because of high gas odor and reading in the area.
National Grid also responded to the scene for that reason. They shut the gas off and the odor went away.
A total of 28 people were evacuated.
The 4-story brick building at 4 Winthrop was under construction and unoccupied at the time of the collapse.
There are no known injuries.
"All of the sudden I heard a tremendous explosion," a neighbor told WBZ-TV. "Not sure what it was but it kept on coming. I knew whatever hit, it hit the roof of our building. It probably lasted three or four minutes."
Boston firefighters remained on scene late into the night, fearing the building would collapse.
It is unclear what caused the collapse.
Inspectional Services said the building will need to be demolished.
Demolition equipment was brought in and the building may be brought down on Monday.