Long-Awaited Inquest
Into Tragic Death of
Heroic Costa Rican Could
Bring Much Needed
Changes to Ontario's
Demolition Laws
By Michele Mandel
The Uptown Theatre is
long gone. So, too, is
the Yorkville English
Academy.
The young boy is 14 now
and back home in South
Korea, while the man who
saved him with his own
life is but a memory.
Almost four long years
have passed since
Augusto Cesar Mejia
Solis was killed in a
demolition accident that
never should have
happened.
The long-awaited inquest
finally begins tomorrow
into the death of Solis,
a 27-year-old Costa
Rican who was killed
Dec. 8, 2003, when a
wall of the historic
movie house suddenly
collapsed during
demolition and slammed
into the Balmuto St.
school next door where
he was learning English.
Solis was hailed as a
hero when rescuers found
that his lifeless body
had been shielding
10-year-old Seung Woo
(Tommy) Cho.
"Frankly, we're lucky
that there was only one
fatality," says Lorna
Spencer, counsel for the
coroner. "There could
have been so many more
people killed in this
accident."
Priestly Demolition Inc.
of Aurora pleaded guilty
to a violation of the
Occupational Health and
Safety Act and was fined
CA200,000 last October.
A ministry of labour
probe found a worker
using high reach
mechanical shears cut
the main roof truss, a
key structural component
of the theatre, leading
to its collapse.
Solis' family has
informed Spencer that
they will not be
attending the inquest.
"They want to be
apprised of the
recommendations but as
far as being actively
involved, it's not
something they want to
do."
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