Authorities investigating what role pigeon poop played in man’s death
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
Too much pigeon poo might have caused an awning to fall and kill a man in Australia.
Victoria Wells August 18, 2010 – 11:00 am
Could an overabundance of pigeon poop have caused an awning to crash down and kill an Australian man?
That’s what authorities are trying to figure out through a five-day inquest into what caused Craig Taylor to be crushed to death.
Mr. Taylor, 53, had been taking shelter from a storm under a pharmacy’s awning when it collapsed in December, 2007, the Daily Telegraph reports. Dozens of pigeons were apparently nesting in the structure. Live birds were even found in the wreckage.
Authorities think the weight of the pigeons’ droppings, combined with the heavy rain, could have caused the awning to fall.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2008:
A structural examination of Hadley’s Chemist found the cause of collapse was a lack of maintenance, poor workmanship and a large quantity of pigeon droppings.
The droppings had built up and had become saturated by the rain leaking into the roof.
The report found that crucial structural points on the awning were poorly maintained and badly corroded, although this would have been difficult to examine before the collapse.
The coroner’s office is investigating what role store owners and the city have in keeping awnings clear of pigeons, and who exactly should be responsible for the structures’ maintenance.
This wasn’t the first awning collapse in Australia. Six-months earlier another fell in Fairlight, Australia, but no one was injured. There’s no word on whether pigeon poop played a role in that incident.
