Cars buried under mud after retaining wall collapses at Brighton condo complex

BOSTON — Three cars were buried under a pile of mud Monday night when a retaining wall in a Brighton parking lot partially collapsed due to torrential rains.

Crews responded to an apartment complex on Tremont Street around 10 p.m. for a retaining wall that toppled over, causing dirt and debris to fall onto two parked cars.

First responders said Monday’s torrential rains – coupled with a tree that fell – caused a portion of the brand-new retaining wall to collapse onto the parking lot. Boston police remained at the scene overnight to make sure no one got too close to the mess.

Residents said Tuesday they’re concerned if the rest of the wall will hold.

Drone footage shows the waterfall of mud that collapsed part of a retaining wall and buried two cars. Carla Leite owns the red car that is now stuck.

“That level of mud kind of shifted my car and pushed it back,” said Leite. “I think my car is probably totaled.”

Monday night, another two inches of rain was added to the already saturated ground and the 20-foot-tall wall buckled.

“I really couldn’t believe it,” Leite said.

The wall is in the back of the Towne Lyne House Condominiums in Brighton, not far from Oak Square.

Above the property, off Washington Street, six homes are being built. Even hours after the rain stopped, large puddles of water still stood.

Boston 25 spoke to the construction manager who said his construction is not to blame and the water has been going down the hill for 80 years.

Local resident Marianne Miller usually parks her car next to where all the mud now sits.

”Oh my goodness. I am relieved. I’m thinking, ‘What a shame for the cars that are right there,’” said Miller.

Boston’s Inspectional Services said there was a lot of water going down the hill and that caused the wall to buckle.

In a statement, the agency said in part: “…Collapsed due to possible hydrostatic pressure due to heavy rainfall. The building official asked the owner to submit an engineer’s report with exact cause(s) and recommendations of repair.”

Residents said the retaining wall is only a few months old.

“You can even see that some of these are starting to buckle a little bit. These were all flat,” said Leite.

The management company sent a note to residents that said the appropriate people have looked at the retaining wall. They asked residents to not park next to the retaining wall.

Leite said her insurance company must take a look at her car, and she was told the management company is currently planning how to clean up the collapse.

Eventually, tow trucks will be brought in to pull the cars out from under the dirt.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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