What we know about the CHOP garage collapse in Grays Ferry

The emergency response to Wednesday’s deadly parking garage collapse in Grays Ferry continued Thursday, as rescue crews remained on standby due to the structure’s instability.

Owned by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the seven-level parking garage, located at 30th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue, was under construction when it partially collapsed around 2:15 p.m. The incident left one person dead, injured two others, and two people remain missing.

Officials have said search and rescue operations were expected to be protracted due to the unstable nature of the building after its collapse. No timeline has been announced.

Here is what we know:

The names of those killed, injured, and missing have not been publicly announced. However, officials said Wednesday the victims were workers at the garage, and Gov. Josh Shapiro said he had been in contact with leadership at Ironworkers 401, a local union.

The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO also expressed sympathy to members of Ironworkers Local 401.

“Nobody should ever leave for work and not make it home safely,” the group said in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with Ironworkers Local 401 and the entirety of the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council during this incredibly difficult time.”

The person who died was rescued from the scene and taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 3:03 p.m. The two people injured were rescued, treated, and released.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker confirmed at a Wednesday news conference that two people remained unaccounted for. Details about them have not been publicly announced.

Right now, that is not entirely clear. But Parker on Wednesday said the garage was being assembled with precast concrete, and a roof segment in the structure’s stairwell “failed” and collapsed straight down through every level of the building.

The project is being handled by HSC Builders and Construction Managers of Exton, Parker said. All necessary permits for construction were obtained, and all inspections were up to date.

Blue Bell-based planning and design firm THA Consulting, which worked on plans for the garage, declined to comment.

Because the building partially collapsed, it remains unstable, and is unsafe for first responders to conduct their work. The operation, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey W. Thompson said Wednesday, was “going to take time.”

“We have to very carefully and methodically deconstruct this building for the safety of the people working on it, and ultimately for the safety of the first responders who will continue to search,” Thompson said.

Thompson added that there was no time frame for how long search and rescue operations would take, as officials are “constantly reevaluating this structure” to make plans that prioritize safety.

CHOP, meanwhile, said in a statement that it was “prioritizing the safety of the construction workers at this time,” and would work with the city and construction partners to assist.

Several eyewitnesses described hearing a loud thud or boom at the time of the collapse.

“It shook our home,” said Grady Fields, who lives about two blocks from the construction site. “I wasn’t sure what was going on.

Some witnessed workers fleeing from the building as chunks of debris fell from the structure. One person who worked the shopping center across the street, who asked not to be named because he did not have his employer’s permission to speak to reporters, said he saw firefighters carrying out an immobilized man.

“They got to him pretty quick,” he said, “but he looked bad.”

Planned by CHOP as a 300,000-square-foot structure that would fit 1,005 parking spaces, the garage has drawn criticism and concern from some community members, city planners, and environmentalists. In a Civic Design Review Committee meeting in May, plans for the garage were roundly opposed.

“It’s just hard to cotton that this extremely wealthy, extremely well-positioned institution has decided that 1,000 cars should go off campus … and contribute to all the negative impacts of traffic to that neighborhood,” Dan Garofalo, vice chair of the committee, said in May.

CHOP purchased the site where the garage was being constructed in 2024 for almost $25 million, and Garofalo estimated costs for building the structure as high as $100 million. Critics said the garage and the construction associated with it would disrupt street parking in the neighborhood, and create an eyesore in the area.

Others noted that the garage was not necessary, given SEPTA transit routes in the region, as well as a 2023 Planning Commission report that said University City parking capacity was less than three-quarters utilized.

“This 1,000-unit parking garage looks like something that would be built in King of Prussia, a suburban location where there’s absolutely no transit,” said Will Tung, an organizer with urban advocacy group 5th Square.