New Developments In Cases Resulting From Deadly Center City Building Collapse
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - There have been several developments this week in the criminal and civil cases resulting from the fatal Salvation Army building collapse in Center City in June of last year.
Six people died the day of the collapse and a 7th person died a few weeks later when a neighboring building under demolition collapsed on to the Salvation Army building.
A trial date has been set for September 21, 2015 for the two people -- the contractor and heavy equipment operator -- charged criminally. Both have pleaded not guilty.
In the civil case, a judge this week ordered there's no blanket 5th amendment protection for five Salvation Army executives, so they'll be questioned in the coming weeks by plaintiff's attorneys, who allege action and inaction by various people and entities, including the Salvation Army, contributed to the tragedy.
"The risks which we believe that the Salvation Army knew about, or should have known about, were not disclosed to its employees and certainly were not disclosed to its patrons," says Attorney Steven Wigrizer -- who represents two women who died in the collapse.
The Salvation Army has said it wasn't at fault. There was no response to a call for comment.