Man killed in Folsom apartment staircase collapse identified

A man killed when an apartment building’s stairway collapsed Friday in Folsom has been identified by the Sacramento County coroner as Shun Xiang Yuan, 26, of San Francisco.

Yuan was visiting a friend when the stairway linking the landings on the second and third floors failed at the 280-unit complex, The Legends at Willow Creek, crushing Yuan, who was below.

The complex on South Lexington Drive has scheduled separate grief counseling sessions for employees and residents this week. Early this week, employees can receive counseling. From 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday, a counselor who specializes in critical incidents will be available for residents in the main office, said Larry Kamer, spokesman for apartment building owner Gerson Bakar of San Francisco.

“This is an incident that shouldn’t have happened,” Kamer said. “We think (providing grief counseling) is the right thing to do.”

Folsom police and fire personnel responded at 2:41 p.m. Friday to the report of a stairway collapse and found Yuan severely injured. Residents had tried to move the concrete slabs but said the man had stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured.

Fire officials and city building inspectors are expected to investigate.

Last year, another stairwell at the complex failed and the bracing was replaced, said Kamer. No one was injured in that episode. He said the staircase involved in the most recent failure was due to be repaired.

Over the holiday weekend, owners brought in contractors to install temporary wooden bracing on every stairwell in the building, Kamer said. He said that work was expected to be finished Monday. But additional work including a much heavier bracing is ongoing.

“Even though it is not visible, work has been done and our goal over the coming weeks is to get it all done,” Kamer said.

The city’s online records indicate that several building permit applications were filed in recent months for landing repairs at The Legends.

This story was originally published July 6, 2015 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Man killed in Folsom apartment staircase collapse identified."