A wall collapsed steps from a busy downtown intersection Friday, sending bricks and other debris onto the sidewalk and causing panic inside a newly-opened sushi restaurant.
It appears no one was hurt as the facade of Sushi Tatami crumbled onto Gould Street just east of Yonge around 12:30pm. That’s steps from the Ryerson campus and former Sam the Record Man and right beside popular student hangout Salad King. It and Sushi Tatami were evacuated immediately following the incident.
The Japanese eatery reportedly opened less than a month ago and was full of diners, approximately 40 to 50, according to Chris Sidey, who was inside when the front of the building collapsed.
“Me and my coworker, we just sat down, like five minutes we were in the restaurant and all of a sudden the building collapsed and it was all dusty in the restaurant,” he told CityNews.ca.
“It was fairly packed in there.
“People were covering their mouths so they didn’t inhale the dust and there was a couple of screams and stuff like that, just panic basically."
Two women standing outside apparently managed to duck to safety when the bricks fell, Sidey said. Police say they are confident there is no one trapped in the rubble. Their dogs picked up no human scent.
Yonge Street has been closed between Elm and Dundas streets as
emergency crews work to clear the scene. Part of Gould is off-limits, as
well. If the area is deemed unsafe, it could remain closed throughout the weekend.
There's also concern about the stability of the rest of the building's facade and bricks continued to fall after the initial collapse. The building is estimated to have been built in the 1850’s.
Toronto Fire Services says the collapse may have been triggered by renovations on a doorway that were taking place.
Image credit: CityNews.
Image credit: CityNews viewer Aline Brodie.
Image credit: CityNews viewer Anthony Manna.