Witnesses described hearing bricks fall before emergency services swarmed the scene
Emergency services at the scene where a building collapsed on King Street, Oldham(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
A busy stretch of King Street in Oldham was brought to standstill after a major building collapse just after 12:40pm today (Tuesday 24 March), triggering a rapid emergency services response and widespread disruption across the town centre.
By the early afternoon, the street was unreachable. Police tape stretched across junctions from Union Street to Manchester Street, while blue lights reflected off shuttered storefronts and the usual flow of traffic was redirected.
The usual steady flow through the are was replaced by congestion and confusion.
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Tram services ground to a halt, leaving platforms unusually quiet and passengers frustrated as they scrambled to find alternative routes home. The frustration was shown particularly strongly by students finishing college for the day walking to their nearest stop, checking their phones and voicing anger as they realised the sudden change to their journeys.
Emergency services flooded the scene within minutes. Fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles lines the roads as crews worked quickly to secure the area. Witnesses described how quickly the response unfolded.
“It is crazy how fast the emergency system works in the UK,” he said. “Every emergency service was here within ten minutes. The whole road is closed down.”
The building, understood to be the Euro King Mini Market, partially collapsed, scattering debris and prompting safety fears. Members of the public working nearby said they heard bricks falling, before rushing outside to see what had happened.
According to the Greater Manchester Police, three people sustained non-life threatening injuries and the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service said five people were able to self evacuate before crews arrived.
Despite strong winds sweeping through the air, small crowds formed behind the cordon as residents and local workers tried to take in the scene. Many quietly filming on their phones and others simply watching as crews moved in and out of the damaged structure.
You could hear the constant murmur of people on their phones, calling friends and family to describe what they were seeing as it unfolded in front of them.
Many recalled the scaffolding that stood at the building for years and a tarpaulin covering the building’s side, which are now part of a scene dominated by rubble and emergency response teams.
“I’m not surprised it’s fallen down, it’s been in a bad condition for a while,” one local said. “We haven’t seen much work happen to it for years.”
While people waited for updates on what was happening, the distant sound of an air ambulance grew louder, before the bright yellow aircraft appeared overhead, circling the incident and drawing eyes skyward.
Air Ambulance seen circulating the area of the incident(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Police later extended the cordon stretching from Union Street towards Manchester Street and down to Oldham Way, forcing additional shop closures and requiring more people to leave the are as a precaution, with the M.E.N understanding that investigations are ongoing into a suspected gas leak.
Traffic remained heavily congested throughout the afternoon, with reports of gridlock on surrounding roads.
Tram continued to be suspended, including routes between Freehold and Rochdale town centre and between Oldham Mumps and Freehold.
As the afternoon wore on, the scene remained active with emergency services continuing to arrive and maintain a strong presence guiding the public to avoid the area as the investigation continued.
Heavy rain later moved in and as investigations continued behind the cordon, the crowds began to disperse with many leaving the area to avoid the weather.
Fire services at the scene on King Street(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)