By Mitchell Willetts
The Charlotte Observer
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania teenager is hospitalized after the roof of an abandoned mall collapsed beneath him, officials told news outlets.
Firefighters were dispatched to the Century III Mall in West Mifflin after 9 p.m. on June 2, to assist with the “extrication of patient,” Skyview Volunteer Fire Company said in a Facebook post.
“We can not emphasize it enough, this property is unsafe and a hazard to your health, please, you absolutely must stay off the property,” the department said. “Your curiosity is not worth you getting injured.”
The victim, who authorities have said is a teenage boy, plunged through the roof, falling about 20 feet, WPXI reported.
The once-popular mall has been abandoned since 2019, the outlet reported. It has fallen into disrepair, and a fire at the former shopping center in April caused structural damage to its roof.
A teenage girl at the scene said she was inside the mall with her brother and some friends, TV station KDKA reported. There was an argument and, moments later, they heard a loud thud.
The fall punctured one of the boy’s lungs and broke two vertebrae, the outlet reported, adding that he is in critical condition.
McClatchy News has reached out to the West Mifflin Police Department for more information.
West Mifflin is roughly 10 miles southeast of downtown Pittsburgh.
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