PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Two Philadelphia families are suing their relatives' former landlord after a fourth-floor fire escape collapsed, killing one tenant and injuring two others.
Albert Suh, 22, died two weeks ago when the fire escape on his fourth-floor apartment, which doubled as a balcony, gave way from the building, the Philadelphia Daily News said. Also injured was Suh's roommate, Laura O'Brien, 24, who suffered a broken back that required steel rods to be surgically implanted and a leg wound that required 60 stitches to close.
A third roommate was also seriously injured though she is not party to the lawsuit.
The trio were hosting a birthday party Jan. 12 with friends when they stepped out onto the fire escape and it collapsed.
The lawsuit alleges the incident was a result of the landlord, Alex Khorram, and his company, the Khorram Group of Newtown Square, failed to do routine maintenance or inspect the structure's condition, causing the metal nails that secured the fire escape to the building to rust and eventually break.
Khorram couldn't be reached to comment, the newspaper said.
