Two injured after part of building collapses onto sidewalk in Allston

Structural engineers are expected to be back at the scene of a building collapse in Allston Monday morning to try to figure out just what happened.

Two people were injured, one seriously, when the front facade of a single-story commercial building on Harvard Avenue collapsed onto the sidewalk just before 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Boston Emergency Medical Services confirmed two injuries, and all occupants were safely evacuated. One woman suffered critical injuries, Boston Fire later confirmed.

Six people were also taken out of the building through the back while the two injured were transported, the department said.

A witness told Boston 25 News he ran out and found two people underneath pieces of concrete after the collapse.

“It sounded to me like an earthquake," Johnathan Aguirre said.

The facade on a block of stores, including Common Ground Allston, came crashing down, with people inside many of the businesses at the time.

"There was a boom sound, and the smoke and the dust came out," Philip Him said.

Everyone inside made it out okay, outside of the two injured.

"They were doing CPR on her," Aguirre said.

The facade was in front of the Common Ground Pub, a Japanese and Korean restaurant next door and Monica's Hair Salon, and there was fear it could collapse further.

"It's the parapet wall, and when these things fall, typically it will fall and then it's a domino effect and it all comes down," Boston Fire Deputy Chief Stephen McNeil said.

The remaining part of the facade was taken down late Sunday evening.

“It was all cosmetic on the top," Buddy Christopher of the Boston Inspectional Services Department said. "But, we have to see how far that collapse caused damage to the structure of the building.”

McNeil said there was a lot of damage, but the timing of the collapse likely saved lives.

“You’re talking about a nice day, where typically you’d have a lot of foot traffic," McNeil said. "In many ways, it’s amazing there weren’t more injuries.”

Facades under 70 feet are required to be inspected yearly. Christopher said they aren't aware of any known violations with the building and said an examination of the inside of the building would reveal how the facade was attached.

"We want to look at how they were tied together, what kind of reinforcements was put in to hollow them to stay stable. There should be some kind of vertical reinforcements in there, some locking mechanisms between the stones," he said.

"We're concerned about the whole building. You can see the front of the front of the building is still bowed out."

The building will remain closed indefinitely.

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