Woman Struck by Concrete, Debris That Fell Off Center City Apartment Building

The concrete façade of a Center City Philadelphia apartment building partially collapsed Wednesday morning, striking a woman on the sidewalk below.

Debris fell off the Walnut Square Apartment building on 201 South 13th Street around 9 a.m. Philadelphia police said contractors were working on the building at the time.

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A resident who lives in the building said a fire alarm was going off and when he came outside he saw stone and other debris on the ground along with a bleeding person.

Medics rushed the 30-year-old woman to the hospital where she was listed in critical condition, Philadelphia police said.

There appeared to be a blood stain near Chancellor Street. Matthew Hall, a resident of Walnut Square Apartments, told NBC10 the woman was bleeding heavily.

"They had to be picked up fully and it was pretty bloody," Hall said.

Licenses and Inspections were called to the location, police said.

NBC10 reached out to the owner of the building, Walnut Square Partners, as well as the management company, PMC Property. Neither has returned our request for comment at this time.

A review of city records shows Philadelphia's Licenses and Inspections issued several violations to the building owner in November after a small piece of the façade fell off the building. The violations include failure to submit required façade inspection report, exterior walls not anchored to supported elements and concrete subject to deterioration. The building was deemed an unsafe structure.

An L&I official told NBC10 the permit that was on the building's door has expired. The city also ordered the building to put up scaffolding.

The building had a street closure permit for Chancellor Street between 12th and 13th streets. That permit expired on January 31 however.

“Property owners are required to obtain construction permits for shelter platforms and repairs to facades and historical buildings,” an L&I spokesperson wrote in a statement. “There were no permits submitted for the property at 201 S. 13^th Street.”

All exterior building construction sites are supposed to have visible work site signs warning people of the work being done.

"We go past that corner every day since we live there so it's kind of insane," Hall said. "I could've been walking or anyone could've."