Three people were injured, two seriously, when a piece of a fire escape fell seven stories in Lower Manhattan Friday afternoon.
The incident happened at the intersection of Howard Street and Broadway in SoHo around 1:30 p.m.
Authorities say a man and a 25-year-old woman on the sidewalk below were struck in the head by a piece of metal that was part of a staircase on the fire escape. It apparently fell when a woman who was inspecting the seventh floor fire escape stepped onto the staircase, with one of the steps giving way underneath her.
![](http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/wabc/images/cms/3095309_630x354.png)
The pedestrians were rushed to Bellevue Hospital with life-threatening injuries, while the inspector was able to pull herself back up and refused treatment at the scene.
“Can you just imagine seeing two people on the ground, falling from I don’t know how high, it was just horrible,” witness Imola Kobor said. “The head was just smashed to the floor. It’s horrible.”
Broadway was closed at Howard Street.
This was a private inspector, not a city employee with the Department of Buildings.
According to the DOB, any building over six stories must submit a report of facade inspection every five years to the city.
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