Civil trial over Philly building collapse expected to begin Monday

Opening statements are scheduled to start Monday in the civil trial tied to the deadly building collapse that claimed six lives in June 2013 in Center City Philadelphia. Jury selection wrapped up Wednesday after a week.

Victims and the family members of those slain are also scheduled to testify.

Nearly two-dozen individual defendants are expected to testify during what could be a weeks long trial at City Hall.

General contractor Griffin Campbell, who is serving up to 30 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter, is on the list, as well as building owner Richard Basciano, who hasn’t spoken publicly about the collapse that occurred June 5, 2013.

That morning, a freestanding, three-story wall of a building being demolished at 22nd and Market Streets pancaked onto and crushed a busy Salvation Army Thrift Store.

An excavator operator was chipping away at the property just before the collapse.

Thirteen people were also injured in one of the city’s highest-profile tragedies.

Prosecutors argue that the defendants knew the wall was a safety risk and still did nothing.

Lawyers on both sides are barred from talking to reporters because of a gag order.

A jury could award survivors of the collapse and the families of those who died millions.