July 17, 2008
In America, you don’t expect buildings to collapse without warning or provocation. This is why residents of a Houston apartment complex were shocked when a stairwell did just that, crushing several boys inside.

It all started with an innocent game of hide and seek. Ten-year-old David Vasquez, 5-year-old Miguel Robledo, and a 9-year-old friend who was not identified, were playing the game in the stairwell of their apartment complex at about 7:40 p.m. That’s when disaster struck. As the aging metal rails and cracked concrete gave way, the stairway collapsed, sending bricks and large chunks of concrete falling onto the children. One wall toppled onto a nearby apartment building, before the entire three-story structure buckled, trapping the three kids. Distraught neighbors responded to the scene, and said the boys could be heard screaming and crying out for their mothers to help from within the rubble.

Ten-year-old David and 5-year-old Miguel were crushed and killed. The third boy was pinned underneath the concrete and rescued by neighbors. “It was big pieces,” said Jaime Cuevar, who helped free the 9-year-old from concrete. “Some we couldn’t lift.” The boy was rushed to Texas Children’s Hospital, where he was treated for a broken leg and other injuries. The three children were friends, but were not related, sources say.

Any further rescue efforts were stopped by firefighters, who feared unstable walls would collapse and cause more injuries. This also made it impossible for firefighters to retrieve the bodies of the other two children until about 1:30 in the morning,
when they were recovered using a large backhoe.

The Westwood Fountains Apartment Complex, built in 1979, houses 293 apartments, according to county records. Authorities for the Neighborhood Protection Corps say they had received seven complaints about the complex since 2004, but all were minor; a lack of air conditioning, no hot water, the presence of mice, etc. Management had complied with fixing these issues, and public works inspections turned up nothing that would raise any red flags that w there were structural deficiencies.

Residents of the complex tell a slightly different story. Neighbors say they had complained to apartment managers about cracks in the staircases. “It looked real bad, like it was about to collapse,” said Margaret Marian, who has lived in Westwood Fountains for 14 months.

Parents had also complained to management that the stairwell, which was meant to be used by maintenance workers or firefighters and which provided direct access to the roof, was often left unlocked, allowing it to be easily accessed by children. “A lot of people are angry, thinking that something could have been done about it,” Marian said.  “We’ve been complaining about this for awhile,” said another resident. “But they only do something after something bad happens,” the woman complained, cradling her baby in her arms. The woman’s mother, Margarita Puente, showed the unstable condition of some parts of the complex by reaching over to a wooden beam supporting steps leading to a second floor. A slight pull caused the entire beam to bow and quiver.

Grief from the tragedy was palpable. Makeshift vigils were put up for the two boys killed. The heaps of brick were cordoned off by strips of red and yellow police caution tape. The other children in the complex, usually hard at play, were solemn and still, whispering to each other as they watched workers clear away the debris. Miguel’s mother, overcome by her son’s death and worried that she wouldn’t be able to afford funeral costs, had to be rushed to the hospital herself the day after the tragedy.

Managers of the apartment complex could not be reached for comment.  Its offices were locked and the blinds pulled down, Maintenance workers did lock the door to a similar staircase on the opposite side of building after the accident occurred, bracing the outside walls with metal brackets. If there’s any lesson in all of this, it’s that parentis should trust their instincts. If something looks unsafe, press to get it fixed, and keep your children away from the area until it is.