BOSTON -- Emergency crews were called to the scene of an apparent building collapse in Boston early Monday at a dorm on the Northeastern campus, where several workers and a police officer narrowly escaped injury when huge chunks of stone fell on the sidewalk.

Authorities said roofers were working at the 5-story dorm at 337 Huntington Ave. when part of the roof's cornice collapsed on the sidewalk after 8:30 a.m.

Willie Dufour, a resident who has lived in the building for 44 years, said crews have been working on roof renovations for the past month and a half.

"They're putting a new roof in and what they had this crane, they had this big shovel that was taking debris down. And what it was ... they had it on top of the roof to lower it down slowly. What they were doing, they were just dropping it, and all of a sudden, 'bang, bang, bang,' that's all I heard. And part of my ceiling was peeling off, the paint and everything, and I knew something was going to happen," Dufour said.

Some of the 60 students who were evacuated, or who couldn't return to their apartments, were waiting for answers on what happened, and where they should go.

"The crowning from the building is all over the streets. It's on the steps, so there's no way to, like, enter ..." student Chris Wiley said.

A police officer working a detail there suffered minor injuries when pieces of the facade fell. He called in the collapse.

"He was struck by some minimal debris. He was able to visualize the area as it was happening. Didn't appear there was anybody there so, at 8:30 in the morning, a busy avenue in the city and no one was injured. It's truly wonderful," said Rich Serino of Boston EMS.

Men on construction crews working at the scene also missed getting hit.

"I went up the stairs, the guy let me in and then I heard a big boom, so I probably missed getting crushed by seven to 10 seconds. So, God was with me today, I know that," roofer Steve Grady said.

"This is standard maintenance, replacing the roof on this building and I couldn't comment on whether that work was related to what happened but it's possible," Northeastern University spokesman Michael Armini said.

It was not immediately known what caused the collapse. City building inspectors were called to the scene and by close to 1 p.m. they said they were no longer concerned about the building collapsing.

Symphony and Gainsborough Streets were shut down while the scene was secured. They were not expecting that section of Huntington Avenue to be opened until Tuesday.

Part of the MBTA Green Line was also shut down along the same stretch as building inspectors were concerned about train vibrations affecting the building. But the line was running again by noon.

Huntington Avenue inbound was closed at Ruggles Street and Huntington Avenue outbound was closed at Massachusetts Avenue. Outbound, between Forsyth and Mass Ave, could be closed throughout the night as crews needed to bring in a big crane to remove the loose brick and clean up the huge chunks of concrete on the sidewalk.

The suggested detour route outbound was Massachusetts Avenue to Westland Avenue to Hemenway Street to Huntington Avenue. The suggested detour route inbound was Ruggles Street to Louis Prang right on Fenway right to Hemenway to Huntington Avenue.