Workers clear debris off of 13th Street at Chancellor after pieces of the Walnut Square apartment building fell to the sidewalk on February 8, 2023. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
A cleanup crew was at work in Center City around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning after a piece of an apartment building near 13th and Chancellor struck a pedestrian on the head.
The woman, 30, was taken to Jefferson Hospital in critical condition, according to police. The Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections responded to what police are calling an “industrial accident”.
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Fire Department said “the building’s exterior (possibly part of the cornice) had fallen to the sidewalk.”
By midday Tuesday workers were cleaning blood off of the pavement in front of Walnut Square Apartments, as passersby stopped to look at the damage.
Maria Gelrud lives in the building.
“I was sitting on the couch, then something crashed, something fell, then I heard someone yell, ‘call the ambulance,’” she said.
She said the fire alarm went off and tenants were asked to leave the building, at which point she and others saw the injured woman on the sidewalk.
Nearby business owners and building workers said there’s been ongoing construction at the site for the last several weeks.
The valuable property dates back to 1901.
On November 30, 2022, the city cited owner Walnut Square Partners for failing to submit a facade inspection report conducted by a structural engineer or architect “knowledgeable in the design, construction and inspection of building facades.”
Earlier that month, the building was cited as unsafe after “a small section of the building facade fell,” the city said.
The building’s owner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.