Sheer luck no one was hurt - masonry falls onto Clifton Triangle
A HEAVY piece of masonry smashed through a glass canopy onto a busy Bristol street.
The carved block of stone fell from the upper levels of a building onto Queen's Road on the Clifton Triangle at around 10.20pm on Saturday.
It smashed through the glass canopy covering a row of shops and scattered glass onto the pavement outside women's clothes shop Yumi.
Despite the stretch being popular with students and club-goers at time of night, no one was injured in the incident, police said.
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It is thought this is the third time a piece of masonry has fallen onto this stretch of pavement.
In 2008 Bristol University chemistry student Eyad Al-Samra, 25, was left seriously injured when a piece of stone weighing 1.5kg landed on his head as he was walking along Queen's Road.
One shop owner also remembered a piece falling a few years before.
Helen Rich, deputy manager of The White Stuff on Queen's Road, told the Post: "Shop and cafe workers found it when they came in to work this morning. The pavement had already been cordoned off.
"This is the third time a piece of masonry has fallen onto the pavement and smashed the glass canopy.
"I don't think anyone was injured this time but it's a very busy stretch at night, so that's extremely lucky."
Rob Pearson, force incident manager for Avon and Somerset Police, said: "We got a call at 10.20pm on Saturday to say a large piece of masonry had fallen from the upper level of a building above a glass roof and onto the pavement. No one was injured in the incident.
"We informed the council who called a structural engineer and building repair. The council organised for the pavement to be cordoned off as it was thought to be a danger to pedestrians."
After the similar incident in January 2008, Mr Al-Samra was left on the brink of death following the accident outside the former Dingles store on the Triangle, which happened just three months after he had moved to the city from Syria. He spent seven hours in emergency surgery having pieces of stone removed from his head and then a further 20 days in a drug-induced coma before making a remarkable recovery.
Comments
by Rich111
Monday, May 21 2012, 11:53AM
“"Despite the stretch being popular with students and club-goers at time of night"
- I think you need to employ a proof reader......”
by PattersonG
Monday, May 21 2012, 11:28AM
“The Health and Safety Executive will certainly be onto the building owners, as will the City's building Regulations office to make sure the building is maintained as safe, or serve notice to them to put it right and ensure public safety is protected. The owner's insurance company will no-doubt pile on pressure to prove that it not likely to be a risk. If a building is declared unsafe and the owners fail to address the condition then public authorities can undertake the work and charge the owner for it.”
by click2011
Monday, May 21 2012, 11:09AM
“Why not hold the landowner accountable for this? Surly with the vast amount of profit they make from this property they can afford to maintain the building?!”
by KWActionGroup
Monday, May 21 2012, 10:01AM
“There was scaffolding up around the building for months after the 2008 accident. I think it was for the structural engineers to check the stability of the stonework.”
by PattersonG
Monday, May 21 2012, 8:40AM
“I understand that an extensive survey of this building was carried out after the last incident. The section that broke away this weekend was fairly low down the building, immediately above the glass canopy, but no less lethal for that. Often there is little way of knowing how stonework will weather without making destructive tests - the sort of tests employed at cemeteries where they push tombstone over to prove that they *might* break. Stone is a natural material; each block with its own unique grain and weaknesses. Consequently how and when it will fail is often impossible to calculate.”
by Bristolexpat
Monday, May 21 2012, 8:11AM
“Pure luck there hasnt been as many deaths in as many years from this part of the Clifton Triangle...
Someone please now take responsibility and commission a survey and/or remedial works to ensure the publics safety.
If this happens again on a busy Saturday afternoon or lunchtime the consequenses dont bear thinking about...”
by Tody123
Monday, May 21 2012, 7:10AM
“Has it occurred to anybody to send civil engineers onto the upper levels to ensure the masonry is safe?”