2 injured when building facade collapses in Millvale

Two people were injured when a building partially collapsed in Millvale on Tuesday morning.

Brick facade fell off the side of a commercial building on the second day of a project on the northeast corner of Grant Avenue and East Sherman Street, officials said.

Five workers were at the site. Two of them were in or near the building, and they were hurt. One of them suffered a serious head injury. The other three workers weren't near the collapse.

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Both injured workers were taken to Allegheny General Hospital in the North Side.

Emergency responders blocked off Grant Avenue in that area for hours. The street reopened after 12:30 p.m.

Channel 11 spoke with a witness who rushed to a contractor lying on the ground and held his head to protect him from any more falling bricks.

Ellen Michael said she was sitting in her car when she saw the collapse happen. She didn't have much time to think and knew she had to act quickly.

"I laid down with him and I said, 'Don't worry. I won't let nothing happen. ... I won't let (these bricks) hit you in the head," Michael said.

Ross/West View Emergency Medical Services said this was the second day on which five contractors had been working on the building. Two were on the second floor, working on the front ledge, when the decorative bricks started falling.

"We sent a rescue specialist up to take a look. We had rescue specialists inside and a building expert inside, actually," Porter said.

The two injured contractors remained at Allegheny General Hospital as of Tuesday afternoon. The condition of the person who suffered a serious head injury was upgraded to serious but stable.

The cause of the partial collapse remains under investigation.

Cox Media Group