A building collapse at a future Eglinton Crosstown LRT station sent seven people to hospital, three of them with serious injuries, and left shaken residents asking questions about safety as construction continues on the massive infrastructure project.

The building facade and construction scaffolding on the former House of Chan restaurant, at Eglinton Ave. and Bathurst St., collapsed just before 2:30 p.m. Monday, sending steel and cinder blocks scattered across the street and sidewalk.

The structure was being demolished to make way for the Forest Hill station, one of 25 new stations on the new LRT line slated to open in 2021.

Some of the injured, including a construction worker, were able to walk away from the rubble, but others were trapped by the mangled bars and bricks and had to be rescued by firefighters, Toronto Fire Services Cmdr. Bob O’Halloran said.

Among those sent to hospital were a 7-month-old baby and its mother and father. The baby’s stroller blocked the scaffolding from coming into contact with the infant, local MPP Mike Colle said.

“I thank God that there was nobody killed,” said the Eglinton-Lawrence MPP from the scene following the accident. “I know how lucky that little baby was. That was a miracle.”

“We have to remind ourselves how important it is to work safe ... and we have to double check that everything is safe, given that this incredibly challenging work is being done right across the city,” Colle said.

Ministry of Labour inspectors arrived on the scene shortly after the collapse.

Ron Aitken, project director for Crosslinx — the consortium responsible for the project — called the collapse an “accident” and said he would not comment about what could have caused it until after the investigation was concluded.

“Safety is our primary concern for both the pedestrians and our workers,” he said. He said “a lot of great care” was taken into planning the demolition.

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Celia Sturgeon, who has lived in the area for 10 years, fears the construction, which includes tunneling under the roadway, could cause future trouble.

“If it happens here, is it going to happen other places? Is this going to happen all the way along the line?” Sturgeon said.

Javier Baez, who lives in the area, said he’d opted to avoid walking under the sidewalk scaffold after visiting the bank next door on Monday morning.

“It looked a little sketchy,” Baez said.

Ivy Valderama was working at a nearby pharmacy when the scaffolding collapsed. She’d had her suspicions about the structure.

“Is this really safe?” she said. “The building is old, and all this metal is attached to the wall.”

Ward 21 Councillor, Joe Mihevc, said he had no indication of any safety concerns with the project. “As a local neighbourhood this is a very important project to us, but equally important to us is that it be done safely, and today’s accident is of course concerning,” he said.

A spokesperson for Metrolinx confirmed construction at the site would be paused while the Ministry of Labour investigated, but couldn’t say if the collapse would delay the entire Crosstown project. “The construction is all kinds of projects,” said Anne Marie Aikins. “We have the tunneling underground, which shouldn’t be impacted.”

With files from Evelyn Kwon and Nick Westoll

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