Philadelphia recovered the bodies of two ironworkers from the wreckage of a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia parking garage early Monday, five days after the seven-story structure partially collapsed in Grays Ferry on Wednesday, April 8. The dead, Matthew Kane and Mark Scott Jr., were both members of Ironworkers Local Union No. 401. A third ironworker, 26-year-old Stepan Shevchuk, had been pulled alive from the debris on the day of the collapse but died at an area hospital. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has signed an executive order launching an independent investigation into the cause of the failure.
The garage was under construction at 30th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue as a new 1,000-car satellite facility to expand CHOP employee parking. According to Parker’s incident report from Wednesday evening, subcontractors were installing precast concrete floor decking and roof segments that had been manufactured off-site and brought in by the manufacturer. A precast roof segment failed, fell to the level below, and triggered what Parker called a progressive collapse of connected sections across all seven levels of the stairwell system on the 30th Street side.
Shevchuk was extracted from the wreckage that Wednesday afternoon and transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Kane and Scott remained trapped in the collapsed stairwell. The remaining structure was too unstable for emergency responders to enter safely. One social media commenter described it as “basically a Jenga tower right now.” Reaching the two men required taking down the building from the top, floor by floor.
Controlled demolition began Saturday morning. That same day, Ironworkers Union Local 401 identified the two missing men by name in a social media post, though the post was later edited to remove their names. The city hosted a food drive in Grays Ferry on Sunday for residents affected by the street closures surrounding the site.
On Sunday night, Kane’s cousin Brian Forstater stood at the site with Kane’s mother, watching crews work through the rubble, and spoke to ABC Philadelphia affiliate WPVI. He described Kane, 51, as a loving, fun, happy-go-lucky person and a veteran ironworker of more than two decades from Cape May, New Jersey. He called him a good father and said his presence at family gatherings would be deeply missed. Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock separately confirmed Kane’s identity and offered condolences. The family of Mark Scott Jr. has asked for privacy.
Shevchuk had left Ukraine roughly eleven years ago seeking a better life in the United States, according to a GoFundMe page set up to cover funeral costs and other expenses. The campaign described the 26-year-old as hardworking and cheerful.
Demolition finished around 7 p.m. Sunday. Within two hours, urban search-and-rescue teams from the Philadelphia Fire Department, specially trained for this type of work, entered the debris field with a cadaver dog. Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson called the stairwell “a unique architectural feature” that helped guide crews to the men’s location.
Once technical rescue personnel reached the stairwell, they climbed inside and used tools of varying types to work through layers of concrete and steel. “We had to de-layer. We had to take it apart piece by piece,” Thompson said, adding that crews used “shovels, buckets and our hands to get to the people.”
Both bodies were recovered before dawn Monday, less than twelve hours after the site had been declared safe. The men were placed in ambulances and driven away before sunrise. Ironworkers gathered at the perimeter were seen embracing one another around 5 a.m. as the second ambulance left. Thompson called the operation a highly complex and dangerous incident that demanded patience, precision, and constant coordination.
Parker announced the recovery Monday morning, saying the two men had been recovered with the utmost dignity, compassion, and respect for their families. She told the union directly that Philadelphia feels their pain, prays for them, and stands with them.
Ryan N. Boyer, business manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, said the three men were skilled tradespeople who showed up to do their jobs the same way they did every day and never came home. He said the entire council grieves with Local 401 and will not forget.
HSC Builders served as the contractor of record on the project. Workers in HSC Builders and Construction vests were visible during Monday’s cleanup. The company’s website does not list leadership information. The city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections outsources inspections of precast concrete projects because the specialized nature of the work falls outside the expertise of its routine staff.
Parking garages in Pennsylvania are not currently subject to the ongoing structural inspections required for other tall buildings. Community members have raised questions about this regulatory gap, the speed of construction, and whether proper safety protocols were followed.
Parker’s executive order directs the city solicitor and law department to work with an outside consultant on what she called a thorough, independent, and transparent investigation. The order gives the law department and the Office of the Inspector General full legal authority, including subpoena power, to conduct a complete accounting of facts. A confidential status report is due within 60 days, and final findings within 180 days, placing the deadline in mid-October.
A special independent committee will then review those findings and advise the mayor on reforms. Its recommendations, due in February, will focus on the Department of Licenses and Inspections. Parker directed the panel to include appointees from OSHA, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, private developers, and academic experts.
Dominick Mireles, head of the city’s Office of Emergency Management, said hazards remain at the site and infrastructure work must be finished before streets can reopen. Grays Ferry Avenue is closed from 27th Street to 33rd Street, a stretch that includes the neighborhood’s only grocery store, a Fresh Grocer supermarket, along with a post office and a bank. Mireles said the city hopes to reduce the closure footprint but offered no timeline.
All mail service from the Grays Ferry post office has been rerouted to the Paschall Post Office at 7300 Lindbergh Boulevard, according to USPS spokesperson Paul Smith. Many residents walk to reach daily necessities, and the shuttering of those businesses has created immediate hardship for the community.
Fritz Blaw, 67, a worker at the shuttered shopping center, attended the Sunday food drive. He had not worked since Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t work, I don’t get paid,” Blaw said. “I need food.”
City officials said more food distributions could follow depending on the length of the shutdown. The Mayor’s Business Action Team is providing support at Dixon House, 1920 S. 20th Street, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to help businesses apply for emergency relief through the Merchants Fund. Debris removal, repairs, and evidence collection continued at the site Monday afternoon.
Parker told the community that Philadelphia shows up for one another, and that the city would grieve, recover, and move forward together as one united city.
