Ironworkers’ union identifies man killed and two presumed dead in Grays Ferry garage collapse

The iron worker killed and two others who were presumed dead after a Grays Ferry parking garage collapsed earlier this week have been identified.

In a social media post early Saturday, Philadelphia’s Ironworkers Union Local 401 — of which all three workers were members — identified the two missing men as Matthew Kane and Mark Scott Jr., and Stepan Shevchuk as the man who was pulled from the rubble and died at a hospital.

The three workers were at the 30th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue construction site Wednesday about 2:15 p.m. when a precast concrete roof segment in the stairwell tower “failed” and fell through every level, reverberating like a crack of thunder.

“This unthinkable tragedy has devastated our local union and the families of both the victims and survivors,“ the post reads. ”We’ve lost three loved and respected members of our 401 family and wait in anticipation to bring our Brothers home.”

The post came as crews began demolishing what’s left of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s garage, which is extremely weakened and “could collapse at any moment,” officials have said. The building’s unstable condition has forced rescuers to proceed slowly and carefully, even as the two workers remain unaccounted for.

But early Saturday morning — after a day of preparations — a wrecking ball began swinging at the seven-level structure, sending dust flying and chipping away chunks of what was once meant to be the roof of the CHOP garage. By noon, the first slabs of concrete fell.

Tara Furrule, 39, and her fiancé Mitchell St. Louis, 37, were on their morning coffee run when they passed by the garage to pray.

“It is an overwhelming tragedy and the loss of lives makes it even more unsettling,” Furrule said. “The workers dying is crazy; it’s hard not to think about them. I’m at a loss for words.”

For St. Louis, the pain is deeper. As a residential project manager, he has construction workers under his charge: “I think about my people, their safety is number one ... and what I have to do to make sure every one of my guys out there is going to make it home everyday.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was holding a community meeting at Vare Recreation Center in South Philadelphia.

“The work to bring this structure down safely has already begun,” the mayor said. “This marks a critical transition … from response to recovery. Our priority remains unchanged — to recover the missing individuals with the greatest amount of dignity and respect humanly possible.“

» READ MORE: Crews begin demolition of collapsed Grays Ferry garage

It’s unclear how long the deconstruction may take, and officials have been reluctant to give a timeline as the structure’s stability must be continually reevaluated.

Precast concrete is a common construction material — especially in parking garages and bridges — that is poured off-site, and then its slabs are fit together. While accidents are rare, they can be deadly because of the material’s sheer weight.

Parker has promised a thorough investigation into what caused the garage to collapse, and the district attorney’s office was at the site ensuring any evidence was preserved.

This is a developing story that will be updated.