Two workers killed in fall at Bloor-Keele condo project
Two people are dead after falling at a condo construction site on Bloor St. W. near High Park Friday morning.
Emergency crews responded to reports of an industrial accident on Bloor and Keele St. at around 11:20 a.m.
One man died at the scene and a second, a man in his 30s, was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital with no vital signs, where he was pronounced dead.
“It’s a massive wreckage on the ground,” said Staff Sgt. Ray Meech.
Workers at the scene said a stationary, elevated scaffolding structure broke in half and two men who were working on it fell seven storeys.
Both deceased men were construction workers.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Garrett Wadham, a worker at the site, who has been in construction for 15 years.
“I heard a bang. I came out and saw everybody lying on the rubble.”
Wadham said both victims were family men, and that he was talking to one of them just moments before the accident.
“It’s like a family. We work together every single day.”
The accident happened at the site of a Daniel’s Corporation condo development.
“We are saddened by today’s tragic accident, which occurred at one of our construction sites. Our heartfelt and deepest sympathies go out to the families and loved ones of the workers who were critically injured,” said The Daniels Corporation president Mitchell Cohen in a statement.
“We are co-operating with all regulatory and medical officials who are investigating this incident.”
In 2009, four construction workers fell 13 storeys and died after the swing stage they were working on snapped in the middle. The project manger was charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Several emergency vehicles responded to the call at 1830 Bloor St. W., and paramedics said they expect to remain on scene for some time.
