‘Catastrophic collapse’ in garage of historic Watergate complex
Several stories of a parking garage at the historic Watergate complex in Washington, DC collapsed on Friday morning, reportedly injuring at least one person.
Authorities responded to the office building and hotel shortly
after 10 am ET after a supposed structural collapse occurred
inside the garage. A local NBC News station said three stories
had fallen in, citing a spokesperson for DC Fire and EMS.
Emergency crews described the incident to a local Fox News
affiliate as a “catastrophic collapse,” and Tim Wilson, a
spokesperson for the DC Fire Department, said it may have been
construction-related.
@saschasegan@zpower kids these days will now know watergate as this.. http://t.co/UQObpc7rKW
— Albert Aydin (@albertaydin) May 1, 2015
One person was injured, according to local media, and taken from
the scene by emergency personnel.
As of 11 am, a fire official told journalist Ryan Reilly that all
construction workers on the scene had been accounted for.
"I was installing a panel," construction worker Gabriel
Gresczyk told the NBC station. "I was looking out and I heard
a rumble, and a 40-foot-by-40-foot section of earth just went
down, hitting the floor below it, and then that floor went
down."
"One of our guys had just come up from that area, using one
of the restrooms down there," he said. "Thank God he's
all right."
#watergate complex garage collapse draws dozens of first responders pic.twitter.com/KVKO4hNxLf
— Heather Curtis (@HeatherMCurtis1) May 1, 2015
Completed in 1971, the Watergate achieved international notoriety
the next year where the Democratic National Committee’s
headquarters there were burglarized. A subsequent investigation
indicted the administration of President Richard Nixon in the
affair, prompting his resignation in August 1974.
It was not immediate clear what type of construction was being
done in the parking garage at the time of the collapse, but Euro
Capital Properties, a real estate company with offices in Paris
and New York, said last year that it would be putting $125
million worth of work into the building in 2015.
