Sixteen people were taken to hospitals Friday after a roof crowded with partying young people collapsed on a building near the University of Pittsburgh.
Police, fire, and EMS crews were on the scene in the 300 block of Semple Street near Bates Street, which was closed to traffic.
According to Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Emily Bourne, three of those injured were in serious condition. The other 13 had minor injuries ranging from leg and arm wounds to concussions.
At least a dozen other people were treated at the scene for minor injuries such as abrasions, Ms. Bourne said.
There were up to 500 students in a courtyard behind the building when the collapse occurred about 5:30 p.m., she said.
Video obtained by Post-Gazette news partner KDKA-TV shows the porch roof falling backward toward the building, with several people sitting atop it as it smashes onto what appears to be a wooden porch.
Nathan Pierzchala, who said he witnessed the collapse, told the Post-Gazette he counted up to 22 people on the roof. Others were standing on the porch when the roof “just came down.”
”Luckily it leaned forward and down kind of slowly,” somewhat breaking the fall for people atop it and shielding those below, he said.
Mr. Pierzchala, who said he’s a Pitt student, said he thought the building contained student apartments.
“There were people on that porch area, people right below on the concrete, and then people on the roof and then it all came down,” he said.
Video shot in the area showed scores of other people partying on Semple Street and a few other people on a roof next to the building where the collapse occurred.
Other students on the street told KDKA that they helped to pull some students out of the rubble by lifting the collapsed roof off them.
"I was just scared for everybody that was down there," Dave Rentzel, who was at the party, told KDKA. "I was just sitting to the side and I saw it fall down."
"It all just happened in the blink of an eye, the roof just collapsed on us, it felt so scary, I really don't have the words to comprehend how I felt in the moment," said Michael Estocin, who told KDKA he was actually on the roof when it fell.
"It just fell," said Carlton Gbur, who was under the roof. "Everyone was having fun and then no one was having fun."
Ms. Bourne said the city Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections inspected the building and condemned its porch but deemed the residential structure itself to be sound.
University of Pittsburgh Police also responded and aided city efforts, Ms. Bourne said.
First Published: March 14, 2025, 10:20 p.m.
Updated: March 17, 2025, 1:09 p.m.
