A man in London was killed while walking in the street when a pane from the window of a luxury penthouse fell from the 27th floor—around 250 ft (76 m)—and crushed him in a capital that is growing ever taller and ever more unequal.
The man, who was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:42 am local time, was a 53-year-old coach driver named Mick Ferris. “He left his coach to cross the road to either go to the shop or use the toilet,” a colleague told the Sun. ”When he was walking back to the coach, the glass window fell on top of him.”
The glass fell from a block of new apartments called the Corniche, which sits on the Albert Embankment on the southside of the Thames with views of the Houses of Parliament. The building, designed by the architect Norman Foster’s firm, features a pool and spa as well as a rooftop lounge. The few apartments left for sale start at £2.7 million to £6.25 million.
The average price of a home in the capital is £468,544—double what it is to buy a home in the rest of the UK.
There are plans for 420 more residential towers, each at least 20 stories high, in London, despite there being 3,000 newly built luxury homes going unsold at the start of this year, the Guardian reported. Flats are being advertised for at least £1,000 per sq ft. The average across the UK is £211.
The average annual salary for a coach driver is £24,309 ($31,541), according to a website that parses data from job ads.