(Frank Speziale photo) NORWICH – A section of a Norwich apartment building collapsed Wednesday, leading to an emergency evacuation and road closures as engineers work to determine if there is further danger.

City of Norwich emergency crews responded at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, after receiving reports a second-story exterior wall collapsing from an apartment building.

About six residents were at the building at the time, which is comprised of a handful of apartments. They have been forced to find alternative housing pending an investigation and have limited access to their personal possessions pending an engineering review, which is being conducted Thursday afternoon.

The section of the collapsed wall was part of the building that had been unoccupied for some time, said officials.

Streets in proximity to the building have been closed: Mitchell Street, between Silver Street and Merrill Street in the City of Norwich, is closed. The south end of State Street, at Mitchell, is also barricaded.

Norwich Fire Department Chief Jan Papelino said concerns about the wall had been raised several weeks ago after a smaller, partial collapse caused a small amount of debris to fall.