"Glass exploded everywhere": Witnesses recall moment light pole fell on woman in Seaport District
BOSTON – Ricky Caswell said he always noticed rust chips at the base of lamp posts walking to his job at the Barking Crab restaurant over the Evelyn Moakley Bridge. But he was still shocked by what he witnessed Tuesday afternoon.
Caswell was on the bridge in Boston's Seaport District when a light post suddenly fell and landed on a woman who was walking in the area.
I-Team sources said the woman suffered serious injuries to her head and legs. She remains hospitalized in stable condition.
"It smashed and the glass exploded everywhere and the top piece of the lamp fell into the water," Caswell told WBZ-TV.
The I-Team obtained a photo showing the light post toppled onto a railing and another revealing the corrosion at the base.
Witnesses said the woman was motionless beneath it for several minutes.
Mike Kriley was eating at the Barking Crab when the incident happened.
"She actually laid there for quite a while without moving. People were kneeling beside her but she was laying there and they tried to put her up in a sitting position. That's when the ambulances arrived," Kriley said.
Boston Department of Public Works crews immediately closed the bridge that dates back to the 1990s. They removed 23 lamp posts of the same age as a precaution, putting orange cones for safety where the posts once stood.
Crews also scrambled to the nearby Summer Street bridge, inspecting and removing more lamp posts, leaving pedestrians with many questions.
"A little bit with the city and what they're doing here. We're supposed to walk down the streets and not have an issue with where we're going," said Cole Defreitas, who works in the Seaport area.
Stephen Ryan who also walks the bridge daily says a year ago he sent a 311 notice to the city about rusty lamp posts on the bridge.
"I said the base of the light post is corroded and one had fallen during a storm," Ryan said.
He said in response the city told him the case was resolved. Now, like many, he's looking at what happened to a helpless pedestrian.
"Too bad the city has to be reactive to it, not proactive about stuff. Waiting literally for someone to be near death before they now take care of the problem," Caswell said.