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CLEVELAND (AP) — A mass of bricks and stone crumbled away from the decorative cornice of a vacant historic building in downtown Cleveland and fell 11 stories, crushing a minivan that was parked below.
Fire officials say the rubble from the top of the former National City Bank building showered down onto the street and sidewalk just after 4 p.m. Monday.
Cleanup of the area was underway Tuesday.
Investigators found more bricks on the building's exterior that are partially loose, said Cleveland fire spokesman Larry Gray. Officials said the surrounding area would be closed off until inspectors and city engineers could conduct a full inspection of the building's upper facade, the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported.
The building and minivan were unoccupied at the time of the collapse, and no injuries were reported.
The bricks fell from the building's parapet wall near the roof of the building, said Jeffrey Crossman with the Millennia Companies, which owns the building. The group has been in contact with an outside firm to assess the structure's integrity, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's office said in a statement.
Heavy winds were reported in Cleveland at the time the bricks fell, but the official cause of the collapse is still under investigation. Gray said no construction or renovations were being done on the building, which was built in the 1890s.
"It might have been a freak accident," Gray said.
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