A father of five was killed in partial collapse of building under construction, five others were injured

By EDWIN SOTO

Bronx, New York, (08/27/2019_ around 12:00 pm a father of five was killed in a partial collapse of building under construction and five others were injured

Segundo Huerta, 48 died when he was crushed in a construction site collapse on 92 E. 208th Street near Steuben Ave. The five injured were his cousin and nephew as well as three friends.
The third floor of a proposed four-story building on E. 208th St. near Steuben Ave. in Norwood began to crumble and pancaked onto the second-floor trapping Segundo Huerta, 48, in the rubble.

First responders were able to pull him from crush of debris, but he could not be saved, five other family and friends who worked with him were miraculously able to escape and initially treated by medics at the scene.

The Department of Buildings was immediately on the scene and began a probe, but then handed it over to the city's Department of Investigation, according to a DOB official at the site.
Segundo was the father of five children, ages 18, 11, 9 and 4-year-old twins.

Segundo's 21-year-old nephew, Manuel Giovanni Huerta, suffered a serious spinal injury in the collapse.

Also injured were his cousin Santiago Mayancela, 38, who got a torn ear and bruised leg in the collapse, as well as family friend Luis Antonio Quizhpi, 40, and Luis Romero, the brother of Segundo's sister-in-law. Romero has a bad head injury. Another friend identified only as Jose, from Guatemala, was hurt too.

Sources with knowledge of the case said that the third floor was overloaded with concrete masonry blocks, sparking the collapse. Segundo Huerta was bringing material up to the third floor when the floor caved in on him.

A permit to build the four-story building was filed with the DOB in May, city records show. A stop work order has been issued on the property as the DOB and DOI continue to investigate.