A half-dozen people were taken to hospitals, three of them critically injured, after a partial building collapse at a construction site on Long Island Thursday, authorities say.
Suffolk County police say a 911 call about the collapse on Middle Country Road in the St. James section of Smithtown around 1:30 p.m. The address links back to the Great Oak Marina, though it's not clear if that's the site in question.
Six construction workers were on scaffolds taking apart the front façade of the building, when that façade collapsed on them and knocked them off the scaffolding, according to police.
Nesconset Fire Chief Frank Ragona said it was a brick wall that fell on top of the workers. Some were on a lift at the time, which got knocked over as well. The fall was more than 20 feet, Ragona said.
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Cops described the building only as "under construction." Of the six people taken to the hospital, three were said to be critically injured, with one taken by helicopter, according to the Nesconset fire chief.
Route 25 was shut down for a time but later reopened.
Police say their investigation is ongoing. The town's fire marshals as well as the Building Department was at the scene.
