Sad day for Boston

Hub tunnel collapse horror: Debris kills woman By Michele McPhee and OÂ'Ryan Johnson Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - Updated: 12:26 PM EST A 10-by-30-foot section of concrete plummeted from the ceiling of a Mass Pike connector tunnel onto the roof of a Honda sedan last night, killing a woman riding in the passenger seat but leaving the male driver Â"virtually unharmed,Â" a state trooper at the scene said. Â"It was massive,Â" the trooper said of the concrete slab that fell about 11 p.m. The startling collapse forced the state troopers to immediately close the tunnel lest more concrete rain down on drivers. Â"The eastbound side has been closed until the Mass Pike can verify the safety of the tunnel,Â" said state trooper Kara England. State troopers assigned to the tunnel began receiving calls about 11 p.m. that debris had fallen from the tunnel roof and struck a vehicle. England said the roadway is a Â"connector tunnelÂ" that runs between the eastbound Massachusetts Turnpike and South Boston. Boston EMS Lt. Chris Stratton said his crews took one person, identified by a trooper at the scene as a male driver, to Massachusetts General Hospital with minor injuries. Stratton said the woman had been trapped under debris and was declared dead at the scene. He said firefighters were working last night to free her body, which he would be turned over to the Medical Examiner. EMS and fire crews were both staged at safe locations away from where the debris collapsed until engineers declared the tunnel was safe enough for them to enter. A state trooper who saw the wreckage said it appeared the concrete fell at an angle as the car passed beneath it, crushing the vehicle, with most of the rubble landing on the passenger side. The driverÂ's side was partially shielded when the falling slab struck a raised gated walkway that runs the length of the tunnel, giving the driver a small pocket of protection. Â"The car was completely crushed. That kind of weight would have crushed a Hummer - itÂ's amazing that guy got out alive,Â" said a second trooper who saw the debris field. He said the 10-by-30 section that dropped was only half of the slab in that section of the tunnel. He said it appeared that iron securing the slab to the tunnel roof gave way. He said Modern Continental work crews had been in that section of the tunnel in recent weeks but he did not know what sort of work they were doing. The Massachusetts Turnpike did not return two calls placed to their representativesÂ' cell phones or to three pages sent to them. They staged an early morning press conference that happened after press time. The spot appeared to be a ticking time bomb, said a trooper who was thankful the collapse didnÂ't happen during rush hour. Â"Its unbelievable that only one car was hit,Â" he said. Â"If more than one car was down there it would have been a disaster.Â">