(Picture: MEN Media)
Workers in central Manchester felt ‘earthquake-like’ tremors after a building collapsed this afternoon.
Most of the 11-storey block on Bridge Street crumbled to the ground, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of people from surrounding buildings.
The collapsed building was vacant at the time and no injuries have been reported so far.
It’s understood it was in the process of being demolished, although it appears Friday’s collapse was neither expected or controlled.
The building is part of Alberton House, a 52-year-old two-block building which was mostly being used by a law firm when it was vacated in 2021.
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It’s not clear whether the second block, a five-storey structure perpendicular to the main block, was already demolished.
George Jones, owner of neighbouring Cardinal House, told the Manchester Evening News: ‘We’ve had to evacuate, about 500 people have had to go for the day, I’ve got multiple businesses in here.
‘We were aware of the renovations for sometime, but never been told that we would be in fear of safety or need to evacuate.
‘It felt and sounded like an earthquake. People have left because they don’t feel safe. When we went around afterwards to speak to the workmen and they told us to evacuate the building. The scaffolding fell in the river and building was moving.’
Alberton House is one of several buildings damaged by the blast of an IRA bomb planted in a car at nearby Parsonage Gardens.
The police response – evacuating buildings in the area – unwittingly sent people into the path of a second bomb near Manchester’s Anglican cathedral, injuring a total of 65 people.
Developer Brentwood took the site over in 2021 with plans to replace it with an 18-storey office block.
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