A section of the ceiling on the ninth floor of this building collapsed Wednesday afternoon.
/ photo by Jessica Cain
SYRACUSE -- A construction worker was killed in an accident in downtown Syracuse.
At about 1:30 Wednesday afternoon, a 15' x 15' section of a ceiling collapsed on the ninth floor of the University Building. That's in the 100 block of Washington Street, near City Hall.
Syracuse Police say 25 year old Steven Pallotta, of Liverpool, was killed. He was working for J S Development on some demolition work in an office. Pallotta was wearing a construction helmet at the time of the accident.
"It appears that it was a false ceiling that came down, but a very large wooden section of that false ceiling," says Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department. "It partially came down and landed right on the worker."
Fire department officials arrived on scene and determined the structual problem was limited to that one section of the building. They made the decision not to evacuate.
A full investigation is now underway by both Syracuse Police and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to figure out exactly what happened and why.
