2 bars damaged in demolition accident on Raleigh's Glenwood South
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Two bars on Raleigh's popular Glenwood South are closed after a wall from a nearby building crashed down on them during a demolition project.
The accident happened Tuesday at the beginning of the lunch hour at the corner of Glenwood and North Street.
Eyewitnesses told ABC11 that they heard a loud thud. Some said they felt the ground shake.
"There were people walking by. I'm just glad no one was hurt," said Monique Simpson.
"People were crowded up against the fence watching the bulldozer take everything down. So it's wonder nobody was hit or struck by anything," said Briley Hussy.
Hussy and Simpson were eating lunch outside across the street. They say they were relieved to learn no one was injured because, they say, it could have been so much worse.
"All of a sudden, we heard just like a huge boom and we looked over and it was just like a white cloud," said Hussy. "I mean everyone who was standing here had to back up because this just like cloud of dust just kind of came over top of them."
Debris crashed through the roof at "C Grace" and the "Empress Room."
No one was inside the building but the owner told ABC11 that debris which punctured the roof also broke a pipe causing even more damage from water. The owner wasn't sure when the businesses would be able to reopen but indicated it could be days.
Although no one from the company in charge of the demolition answered a request for information it appears they acted quickly.
Several of their workers were on top of and inside the damaged building and a roofing contractor showed up on the scene not long after the collapse.
It also appears no agency is investigating the incident.
The State Department of Labor told ABC11 that companies only have to report construction accidents to the state Occupational Safety and Health if a worker is killed, or if three or more workers are sent to a hospital.
