Car Smashed In Partial Roof Collapse As Crews Remove Pool In Brookline

BROOKLINE (CBS) -- Part of a parking garage collapsed on a car in Brookline Tuesday morning after a swimming pool removal went wrong.

Nobody was hurt, but some residents were expressing frustration that they could not get to their cars after the parking garage was closed.

One man who lives in the building on Beacon Street told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens at the scene that those living in the building heard a loud "thump" when the car was crushed.

"We've been hearing lots of drilling and things like that, and that was true this morning," the man said. "Then we heard this large sound."

Crews had been removing an outdoor swimming pool that sits above the parking garage. A building manager told WBZ-TV that, during the dismantling of the pool, crews were moving two sections of it when a larger piece gave way, falling into the parking area below.

The woman whose 1998 Volvo was crushed in the collapse told WBZ-TV's Christina Hager that she was glad she wasn't in it. She said she was scrambling to find out how to pick up her grandchildren, as she provides day care for them.

The project to remove the pool has been halted while a structural engineer determines if it is safe for crews--and residents--to go back in the building.

The building's owner said he planned to have the garage reopened by the end of the day Tuesday, and that if that couldn't happen, arrangements were being made for offsite parking.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports

In:
• Christina Hager
• Brookline
• Carl Stevens