WALTHAMSTOW: Building collapses on busy street (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WALTHAMSTOW: Building collapses on busy street

9:29am Tuesday 19th May 2009

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PART of a building collapsed onto a busy street during rush hour.

Debris was scattered across the pavement and road, narrowly avoiding commuters and children making their way to school just before 8.30am today (Tuesday).

The collapsed wall was above a halal butcher which is part of a parade of shops on the corner of Woodlands Road and Wood Street in Walthamstow.

An ambulance crew was the first to arrive at the scene, but fortunately no one was injured.

Police cordoned off the road while fire fighters made the scene safe.

Wood Street has one lane closed between Woodland Road and Corbett Road while the remaining part of the unstable parapet wall is pulled down.

Rebecca Kattirtzis, 52, a book keeper at NRM Accountants opposite the butchers was just standing just yards from the wall before it collapsed and said she was very shaken by the incident.

She said: “I was standing outside the shop across the road getting ready to cross the road and it just came down really quickly.

“It could easily have been a disaster.

"I think god was waiting for the children to pass because there were so many people around at that time. I feel so lucky today and feel that god must have been looking after me.

“There was another man who it narrowly missed and he was very shocked. It’s unbelievable.”

Chris Clark, shop manager of T&T Timber Merchants said he was in his shop across the road when he heard a loud bang.

He said: “We felt it shudder on the floor. I went outside and people were still trying to walk underneath it, so we taped it off before the police arrived.

“It was just before school and kids were coming down the road so thank god it didn’t happen any later.”

Another shop keeper added: “It fell and just missed a couple of kids. The kids had just got outside the medical centre nearby. It could have been a nightmare.”

Wood Street Medical Centre is closed as are the rest of the shops in the parade.

There are traffic delays in Forest Road while Wood Street remains closed.

The reason for the collapse is under investigation.

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