Penthouse horror
Grandad killed instantly as window in millionaires’ tower block falls 27 floors
A MAN was killed instantly yesterday when a heavy windowpane tumbled 250ft from a 27th-floor penthouse flat and crushed him on a busy street.
The victim, named locally as coach driver Mick Ferris, was walking towards his vehicle near the Thames in Central London, when tragedy struck.
A photograph posted on social media showed a body, covered with a sheet and surrounded by shattered glass.
Mr Ferris was a grandfather in his 50s, who lived in Medway, Kent, with his wife Rachel.
A Clarkes coach was parked near the scene yesterday. A mini replica West Ham shirt was hanging next to the driver’s seat, beside a sign saying: ‘Introducing your driver Mick.’
Colleagues paid tribute to a ‘well-liked driver’ who had been working for coach firm Clarkes of London for about 20 years.
A fellow driver, who did not want to be named, said Mr Ferris recently started working part-time and was on the brink of retirement after inheriting some money following the death of his father. He was set to go on holiday to the Maldives with his wife next week.
The man described Mr Ferris as ‘a family man’ and ‘an avid West Ham fan’ who was originally from East London.
He said: ‘He had just emerged from the walkway between The Corniche building and the Plaza Hotel and was heading back to his coach. It’s unbelievably bad luck for that to happen. Mick was a popular bloke and all of us are devastated.
‘Mick picks commuters up in Rochester and drops them off at Victoria coach station.
‘Afterwards he parks up in the coach bays on Millbank until 10am before driving to the bays on the opposite side of the river. He waits there till 4pm – unless he has a job in between – when he picks commuters up and takes them back to Rochester.
‘This morning, he’d gone to the café under the arches with a colleague and I think he was heading back to the coach when he was hit by a window pane that had come loose from a penthouse in The Corniche building.
‘It was pretty instantaneous, from what I’ve been told. He wouldn’t have known anything about it. His colleague who witnessed it is absolutely beside himself, as you’d expect.
‘We want to know how something like this could happen in an apartment building worth several million pounds.’
Paddy Riley, 59, saw the aftermath of the accident. He said: ‘I was just driving past on a job, it was 10.40am, and I saw him... there was blood everywhere.’
The Corniche is a new triple tower development on the south bank of the Thames, described as an ‘exclusive riverside address’ of 252 two, three, and four-bedroom apartments worth between £2.7 million and £6.25 million.
Property developer St James said it was investigating the incident. A spokesman said: ‘It is with great sadness that we learnt of an incident at our Corniche development. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family at this incredibly difficult time. We are investigating this incident as a matter of urgency.’
Most of the flats in the tower have been sold, but the penthouse from which the window fell is understood to still be for sale. A source said contractors had been in the flat doing ‘decorative work’ yesterday.
The Corniche was designed by architects Foster and Partners. A spokesman said: ‘Our sympathies and condolences are extended to the family following this tragic incident.’
A Clarkes of London spokesman said: ‘This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the victim’s family.’
‘It was pretty instantaneous’