Stairwell Collapse in Houston Leaves 3 Workers Dead and 1 Injured

Three workers were killed and one was injured after a stairwell collapsed on Monday afternoon in a building that was under construction in Houston, the authorities said.

The Houston Fire Department’s technical rescue team responded to the accident, the department said in a statement. The injured worker was taken to a nearby hospital and was in “stable condition,” the department said.

The three bodies had not yet been retrieved as of Monday evening, a spokesman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management said, as the rescue team coordinated with an engineer at the site to “secure the safety of the building.” All 240 workers on the site have been accounted for, he said.

The stairwell in the 15-story building was a “precast interior” concrete staircase — stairs made to look as if they were floating — said Alanna Reed, a spokeswoman for Houston Public Works. The stairs that collapsed were “in the process of being set,” she said.