4 People Hurt When Walkway Collapses

Four people were injured Wednesday when parts of an outdoor walkway they were sitting under collapsed on them, authorities said.

The two women and two men, who were sitting at a table eating lunch, received minor to moderate neck and back injuries and were taken to local hospitals.

“They’re very fortunate that they weren’t hurt worse,” Orange Fire Battalion Chief Doug Mouchizuki said.

The victims’ identities were not immediately released.

Mouchizuki said parts of a 40-foot-long and 10-foot-wide walkway connecting the second stories of two buildings “collapsed without warning” about 11:35 a.m. The walkway joins the corporate offices of Volt Information Sciences, 2401 N. Glassell Ave.

The cause of the collapse was under investigation by the city’s Building Department. Mouchizuki speculated, however, that steel pins holding the overpass together might have given way because they “appeared to be a little on the short side.”

The walkway was immediately cordoned off with yellow police tape as building inspectors surveyed the large plywood-like sections that draped the lunch tables and chairs.

Mouchizuki said the debris fell about 10 feet before landing on the victims.

Rita MacFarlane, a spokeswoman for Volt, said the victims were all employees of the company. The area under the walkway is near an office cafeteria, she said, and is a popular spot for employees to eat or smoke during their breaks.

She said the buildings and the walkway are about 5 years old and that there had been no previous problems with the structures.