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Falling Ice Closes Part Of Market Street

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Melting Ice falling from the top of the Loews Hotel in Center City led to some big problems Friday afternoon

Market Street between 12th and 13th was closed to both drivers and passersby for over three hours when the ice first started coming down around 2pm.

"We were walking down from the Liberty Bell and there were a ton of sirens and then we looked up and there was ice falling and then they shut everything down," Brandy tells KYW Newsradio.

She's in town for the Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention taking place nearby with her friend Fino, who says people were confused at first:

"Everyone's attention was at that building. Some people thought like maybe someone was going to jump because the police were taping it off."

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Market Street between 12th and 13th was still closed at the start of Friday's evening rush. credit cbs

Some ice chunks were several feet long. It was a close call for Philadelphia resident George Korein:

"I had to take the tunnel to get from 11th to 12th Street because the whole block was blocked off," he says. "I was coming out, I sat for a moment and clipped my nails and then I heard 'BOOM' and I looked out, there was ice had hit the roof of the shelter of the stairway and also the street."

At least one police cruiser police was struck by a smaller chunk of ice. No injuries to any officers or pedestrians were reported.

Market Street was open to traffic around 5:30pm. People were allowed to walk on the sidewalks again a few hours later.

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