Heavy Winds Bring Down Sidewalk Shed In SoHo, Injuring 5: FDNY

SOHO, NY — At least five people were injured when heavy winds blew down a sidewalk shed at the corner of Broadway and Prince Street early Sunday afternoon, officials said.

The incident was reported at around 11:35 a.m. and the injuries are said to be minor. All five people injured in the shed collapse were pedestrians and were transported to Bellevue Hospital with "minor extremity injuries," fire officials said.

Two of the victims were "lightly buried" under debris and firefighters had to remove wooden planks and corrugated steel from on top of them, FDNY Chief Brian Shovlin said.

The Department of Buildings is on scene investigating the shed collapse in front of the 12-story commercial building at 568 Broadway. A DOB spokesperson said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

"It’s been a very windy day and the sidewalk shed at the corner of Prince and Broadway was blown down and there were several pedestrians who were on the sidewalk when this occurred," FDNY Deputy Chief Chris Boyle told reporters.

Boyle said wind appeared to be the cause of the collapse and the corner where the shed came down was very breezy. A couple of pedestrians were buried in debris and firefighters were able to get them out pretty quickly, Boyle said.

The train station at the corner had not let out at the time of the collapse and Boyle said officials were grateful more people were not injured.

The NYPD said northbound trains are bypassing the Prince Street station.

Image via NYPD