One person dead after load from construction crane falls on Vancouver building
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/02/2024 (977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
VANCOUVER – B.C.’s premier and minister of labour are sharing their heartfelt condolences after a worker was killed in Vancouver’s Oakridge neighbourhood when a load from a crane fell on a building under construction.
The joint statement from David Eby and Harry Bains said “Every worker deserves to return home safely at the end of the day and this incident is a stark reminder of the importance of workplace safety.”
It also thanked the first responders, B.C. Coroners Service and WorkSafeBC for their collective efforts.
Matthew Trudeau with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services confirmed the fatality hours after the load fell Wednesday afternoon, hitting several floors of the unfinished multi-storey building.
He could not confirm what the load contained, but says it struck the floors about 25 storeys up.
Trudeau says about 1,700 workers were evacuated from the site near Oakridge Mall.
Firefighters were called to the city’s busy Cambie Street and quickly blocked off a four-block stretch of the road.
Trudeau says tactical crews were to remain on the site to ensure building materials were secure as some of the exterior was damaged when the load fell.
“We’re working with the construction companies and contractors (and) they’ve been really helpful, as well as the (Emergency Health Services) and police. We’ve got WorkSafeBC (members) that are here on scene,” he said. “The primary goal is for us to make sure everything is stabilized.”
B.C. Emergency Health Services said in a statement that two ambulances had been dispatched to the scene but paramedics did not transport any patients to the hospital.
Ashley Gregerson of WorkSafeBC, the provincial worker safety agency, said in a separate statement that the “serious incident” happened around 3 p.m. at an Oakridge Mall work site, but did not provide specifics.
WorkSafeBC sent prevention officers to the site and “mobilized” its occupation health and safety investigations team, she said.
Coltin Lillico, an employee at Crate & Barrel in the nearby mall, said he is not sure of the specifics of what happened, but confirmed the shopping centre remained open and that the furniture store was “functioning normally.”
“All I know is there was a blockage on the road and they had to clear it out,” he said in an interview about an hour after the load fell.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2024.