This is the moment a taxi driver was nearly crushed after a balcony collapsed off of a building in Colombia.
A surveillance camera from a building next door showed a person who appeared to be an employee standing outside a store and a yellow taxi approaching the middle of the street when concrete slabs came crashing down during the early hours of Thursday.
The impact of the falling debris sent the man running and pushed a parked taxi several feet back as the cab driver suddenly stopped next to the opposite sidewalk.
No injuries were reported, but three cars, including the two taxis were slightly damaged, the Cartagena mayor’s office said in statement.
A taxi driver (top) narrowly avoided being crushed after a balcony collapsed from the second floor of an unoccupied building in Cartagena, Colombia on Thursday. No injuries were reported and three cars, including the two taxis pictured were damaged
Concrete slabs were strewn across a street in the historic Cartagena neighborhood of Getsemaní after a balcony collapsed from a building with no tenants
The two-story building is in the historic city center neighborhood of Getsemaní, according to Cartagena Disaster Risk Management Advisory Office director, Daniel Vargas.
No tenants were living in the property at the time.
‘We responded quickly to the emergency to protect citizens,’ he said. ‘We urgently call on the owners of abandoned properties to carry out the necessary maintenance to avoid risks,’ Vargas said.
Engineers were able to enter the building and carried out a thorough inspection.
The Cartagena historic city center neighborhood of Getsemaní was free of pedestrians and heavy traffic moments before a balcony collapsed from a two-story building during the early hours of Thursday
‘These (inspections) included a thorough assessment of the structural conditions of the affected building, traffic control in the area to ensure the safety of pedestrians, and the rapid securing of the impacted area,’ Vargas said.
‘These measures were essential to prevent any further incidents and facilitate the safe removal of debris.’
At least 160 inspection visits have been carried out since 2020. In 40 of those visits, some of the property owners were sanctioned due to unsafe conditions that the buildings were in.
‘It is noted that there is a wide range of properties to be inspected in the Historic Center and, given that deterioration is not always visible, the work of identifying those that present structural deterioration or risk of collapse is exhaustive,’ Vargas said.
‘Each of the owners of the properties in the Historic Center is held responsible, taking into account that it is the obligation of the individual to maintain their properties in optimal conditions so that they do not threaten the safety of citizens,’ Vargas added.
‘The sanctions will be vehement in the face of this great irresponsibility.’
