A 40-year-old man remains in hospital today after bricks from a three-storey building collapsed on him while he was walking on the sidewalk.

The bricks fell from the top of this three-storey building. (Elias Abboud/CBC)A few hundred bricks came loose from the top of the downtown building, on the west side of De Bleury Street, south of Sherbrooke, on Tuesday, and tumbled to the sidewalk, striking the man at around 11:30 p.m. ET.

According to Montreal police, he suffered severe injuries to his head and pelvis, and is in critical condition.

Julie Séguin Dores lives across the street and said she heard a loud bang from her apartment.

"The whole sky was covered in dust and then we saw all this rubble," she said. "There was a guy lying unconscious right near the window."

She said the man actually came to, got out from under the brick and made his way to a safer spot to wait for the ambulance.

Inspected 6 years ago

The current owners bought the building about six years ago.

The owner's son, Marc Varadi, said it was inspected at that time.

"It's very difficult to see what is behind the exterior envelope of a building," he said. "There's many buildings in Montreal and different conditions for every one of them."

Security perimeter

A security perimeter was set up around the area by the fire department soon after the bricks fell.

Engineers and masons were on site Wednesday morning to secure the facade and make the necessary repairs.

The borough has demanded an engineering analysis of the entire building.

City officials said in a press release that no evacuation of the building was necessary.