Two College Students Fall Four Stories Off Building While Trying To Take A Selfie At A Rooftop Party

Two Philadelphia-area college students have been hospitalized with serious injuries after they fell more than four stories off the top of a building while trying to take a selfie together.

The incident, which occurred at an off-campus party near Temple University at around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, happened as students were “partying and drinking on a rooftop at a North Philadelphia building,” according to local news station WPVI. The two women involved were reportedly trying to take a selfie together when they fell off the roof, and landed in an alleyway four stories below.

Both women were immediately rushed to the hospital by emergency personnel, according to reports. One of the women suffered serious leg and ankle injuries in the fall; the other women is still in critical but stable condition, reportedly with “injuries to multiple parts of her body” according to the news outlet.

There were multiple witnesses to the incident, both on the rooftop itself from where the girls fell, and elsewhere around the street and neighborhood as the severity of the incident played out in its aftermath. One woman, identified as Temple University student Allison Byrne, spoke to WPVI about her friends having been on the rooftop at the party, and witnessing the girls fall (below):

“I feel bad for my friend who was there and did see it and had a really rough night trying to deal with that emotionally.”

The news outlet reported that the building in question “has a rooftop deck with a parapet wall and railings,” according to the company that manages the place, but at least one other student who knows the building reported the rooftop area as being unsafe.

Arnav Johri, another Temple student who knows the layout of the building, reported that the side wall blocking people from falling off the roof simply isn’t tall enough. He spoke to the station about the incident, too, alleging (below):

“There’s not enough room blocking you from falling off. So if you’re drinking and you run right into it, it’s really easy to slip right off because it only comes to like a little halfway between your knee and hip.”

Yikes…

Temple Police are currently investigating the incident, which is also being looked into by Philadelphia Police in support of the school’s law enforcement outfit.

Sadly enough, this isn’t even the first time a Temple University student has fallen from a rooftop party in the last few years. Back in 2013, 19-year-old West Chester University student Ali Fausnaught was at a rooftop party “just blocks away from where this latest incident occurred” and apparently tripped over a ledge on the roof of the building, falling three stories to her death. It’s horrifying to think of that tragedy playing itself out again… ugh…

Of course, there are also COVID-19 concerns at play here, too, as neighbors are (rightfully) up in arms about the area’s college students having parties even as the pandemic rages on this fall. As sad as it is, maybe a situation like this will be a wake-up call to students — in several ways — to stay safe and know they are not invincible.

Our thoughts are with these two young women as they hopefully continue to recover from their injuries.

So scary!