FLATS IN COLLAPSE DRAMA
Noise like thunder as empty building crumbles in night
ABUILDING has collapsed in Glasgow’s South Side – more than a year after its residents were evacuated.
Emergency services rushed to the scene in Crosshill before 4am after nearby residents were woken up by the noise.
A BUILDING has collapsed in Glasgow’s South Side – more than a year after its residents were evacuated due its condition.
Emergency services rushed to the scene in Crosshill around 4am today after nearby residents were woken up by the collapse.
A local resident told the Evening Times the unoccupied building on Albert Road at the corner of Eskdale Street has been cordoned off for more than a year.
Police Scotland confirmed that they were called to the scene and no-one was injured.
The building was empty after private residents were evacuated due to its condition and a safety exclusion zone was set up in the meantime.
One person who lives nearby said: “I heard almost like a thunder noise when I was lying in bed and when I got up I realised what had happened, and we called the fire brigade and the police.
“The fire brigade responded immediately because there is a station near by.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “It was around 3.55am today, police were called to a report of an unoccupied building having partially collapsed at Albert Road. Nobody was injured.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service dispatched seven appliances to the scene.
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to reports of debris falling from an unoccupied tenement building on Albert Road.
“A total of seven appliances were immediately mobilised to the scene and firefighters found part of the front face of the build- ing to have collapsed.
“There were no casualties and crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe.”
Glasgow City Council’s Building Standards and Public Safety were also at the scene following the incident.
The local authority told the Evening Times that the flats are privately owned and the resi- dents were evacuated some time ago.
An exclusion zone was set up thereafter and the debris from the building fell inside that.
The council had been working with the residents and grants were secured to start work to stabilise the building.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The building comprised privately-owned tenement flats. Officers from the council’s Building Standards and Public Safety service previously ordered its evacuation due to its condition and set up an exclusion zone around it for public safety.
“Responsibility for repairing the property lies with the private owners however the council had offered them financial assistance to help with the cost of repair. Stabilisation works to the property and removal of the bay window areas were due to commence on site within the next two weeks following the appointment of a contractor, by the owners’ agent.
“Unfortunately, storm Ophelia hit the city and there was a collapse. The exclusion zone did its job and contained debris and, because we previously evacuated the building, no-one was hurt.”
Engineers and the contractor representing the owners are currently on site to assess the damage along with staff from Building Standards and Public Safety.
COMMUTERS faced travel disruption today with major routes affected as Storm Ophelia continued to batter parts of Scotland.
Trains, planes and ferries were cancelled as the storm front swept eastwards across the country with a warning of 70mph winds.
The Erskine bridge was among several bridges closed to high-sided vehicles due to high winds.
It was closed for several hours, but reopened mid-morning.
On the trains, routes around Glasgow were affected including the Glasgow Central to Neilston route due to an obstruction on the track.
Several ScotRail routes were disrupted today including trains between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and Glasgow and Lanark.
An object caught in overhead electrical wires also caused problems for commuters travelling on trains between Glasgow Central and Lanark.
A yellow Met Office weather warning remained in place for central and eastern Scotland including Edinburgh and Dundee.
Elsewhere,more than 1000 homes and businesses in Dumfries and Galloway lost power on Monday, where winds gusted at 76mph overnight.
Virgin Trains said a tree blocking the railway at Lockerbie was causing disruption to journeys and work was under way to remove it.
Meanwhile, three people have died as a result of the storm. One man was killed in Ravensdale, Dundalk, when a car he was in was struck by a tree at around 2.45pm, gardai said.
He has been named in reports as Fintan Goss, 33, who was a fatherof-two, according to the Irish Independent.
In Cahir, Co Tipperary, a 31-yearold was killed in a chainsaw accident when he was trying to clear a tree downed by the wind.
He has been named locally as Michael Pyke.
Earlier, a woman driver in her 50s died when a tree fell on her car in strong winds near Aglish village in Co Waterford.
The Irish Independent reported the victim was former oncology nurse Clare O’Neill, who was due to celebrate her 59th birthday today.
The Met Office has reduced the area covered by a yellow weather warning, but has still said a spell of “very windy weather is likely”.
Their forecast added: “Some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen.”