8-year-old hospitalized by falling debris from Queens construction site

Friday, February 23, 2018
JACKSON HEIGHTS, Queens (WABC) -- An 8-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital after she was struck in the head by falling debris from a Queens construction site, officials said.

The girl was struck when a wood plank -- bigger than her -- fell from a building on 35th Avenue between 83rd and 84th Streets in Jackson Heights just after 9:30 a.m. Friday.
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Officials said construction workers were lowering the plywood from a fire escape to the ground using rope. The piece of plywood slipped off the rope and fell from the third-floor level.
The girl is conscious and stable with a laceration to the head. She was taken to the hospital and has since been released.

The wood plank that fell from a Jackson Heights building and hit an 8-year-old girl in the head.



Olga Piedrahita, the girl's mother, said they were on their way to the park.
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Speaking to Eyewitness News, Piedrahita said she realized how lucky they are - her 3-year-old son was only inches behind the falling plywood.

Melissa Martinez, the neighbor who called 911, saw the incident unfold.



"I heard a boom. I look out the window. The little girl was just bleeding out of her head, crying, screaming," she said.

The Department of Buildings has issued a full stop work order at the property.

The DOB has also issued three violations at the property. They are for: failure to safeguard a construction site, performing construction work that does not conform to permitted plans, and performing unpermitted construction work.
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Piedrahita said she's furious about the way her daughter was injured.

"There's no ropes, no signs, nothing. Nothing," she said.

An investigation is ongoing.
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