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A section of scaffolding protrudes from a shattered
window at the scene of a construction accident that killed three people and
sent another to a hospital, Monday, March 23, 2015, in Raleigh, N.C. A
scaffolding holding at least three workers fell and crashed into the Charter
Square project, an 11-story building being built on the south end of
Fayetteville Street. (Harry Lynch, AP / The News & Observer)
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's workplace safety
agency is leading an investigation into why a scaffold with several men on it
broke free from the facade of a high-rise construction project and killed three
workers.
The State Department of Labor is receiving help from
Raleigh's police and fire departments as it interviews dozens of workers at the
Charter Square building under construction in downtown Raleigh.
The equipment known as a mast climber scaffold moves up
and down a building's facade to take workers to different floors. One of the
tracks had snapped off several stories up Monday and fell into a twisted heap
on the ground below.
"We just had a mast climber fall off. There were men
on it," a 911 caller said, estimating the men fell 200 feet.
The operator asked if the victims were awake, to which
the caller responded: "No, they're dead."
Jeffrey Hammerstein, community outreach chief for Wake
County EMS, said three men died and a fourth was seriously injured in the
accident and that all four were involved in the construction project.
Police identified the dead men as Jose Erasmo Hernandez,
41, of Durham; Jose Luis Lopez-Ramirez, 33, of Clinton; and Anderson Almeida,
33, of Durham.
A fourth man, Elmer Guevara, 53, was taken to WakeMed
hospital, authorities said. The hospital said he was in fair condition.
The accident happened as subcontractor Associated
Scaffolding was in the process of dismantling the scaffold on the building's
exterior, said Mike Hampton, the chief operating officer for the building's
general contractor, Choate Construction Company.
"We are finished using it. They actually were
dismantling that piece when it happened," Hampton said. "It wasn't as
if it was business as usual; they went to work and it collapsed."
Choate issued a statement saying the company is
"deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries."
Peter Thuston was working inside the building installing
a security card reader system when the accident happened.
He said he ran outside to try to help and saw three men
in safety harnesses, leading him to believe they had been attached to the
scaffolding.
"It was just a loud crash and a huge cloud of
smoke," said Thuston, 32, of Garner. "I noticed three of the guys and
it looked like they were dead."
He said a fourth man, later identified as Guevara, was
found on a crushed portable toilet after apparently falling onto it. He was
still breathing and had a pulse, but was barely responsive.
Thuston said he had walked inside minutes before the
accident.
"That could have been anybody. That could have been
me," he said.
State Department of Labor spokesman Neal O'Briant said
his agency is investigating the cause.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration records
show Associated Scaffolding was issued serious safety violations twice in North
Carolina in the past 10 years. A 2007 citation says it was related to access
equipment for scaffold platforms, while a 2008 citation says the violation was
related to storage of welding materials.
People who answered multiple calls at the company's
Durham headquarters declined to comment.
Hampton said the subcontractor's only job at the site was
erecting and dismantling the scaffolding.
The records show that Choate Construction has been
inspected 20 times in North Carolina in the past 10 years and cited for one
violation, which wasn't considered serious. O'Briant said the 2014 violation
was related to storing flammable materials outside without a fire extinguisher.
Source: Times
Union
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