NC: Five injured in construction accident
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Five injured in construction accident
08:33 PM EST on Thursday, February 15, 2007
By MELISSA MARTIN / WCNC
E-mail Melissa: MMartin@WCNC.com
A back porch roof collapsed at this south Charlotte home Thursday morning.
Five roofers were transported to the hospital this morning after the porch of a south Charlotte home under construction collapsed. The contractor has stopped work for the day while the North Carolina Department of Labor investigates the accident.
The men were working on the roof of a porch at a three story home in the 9400 block of Hampton Oaks Lane at the time of the accident. Charlotte firefighters were called to the scene around 9:45 a.m.
Five men were injured in the accident, Capt. Rob Brisley of the Charlotte Fire Department confirmed. They fell about 40 feet. Three people were transported emergency traffic to Carolinas Medical Center and two others were transported non-emergency.
Officials had not released the victims’ names Thursday afternoon, so there was no word on their conditions. The Department of Labor was looking into what went wrong, like whether roofers were wearing proper protection or whether the structure was stable.
Derek Kersey was working inside the home at the time and watched the structure fall and the roofers go with it.
"Next thing you know, I hear a pop and a crack and I look up. And I see a deck going, and I see a roof going, and I see two guys going down past the window and next thing you know I call 911," Kersey said.
His co-worker heard the crash and ran outside.
"There was five or six people laying in the yard, they are all in pain crying. It was pretty wild," said David Faulds, a construction worker on the scene.
None of the five spoke English. Fabrizio Ulloa translated while other workers rushed to help.
"They were just talking about what part of their body was hurt," said Fabrizio Ulloa, a construction worker on the scene.
Faulds said he and others grabbed blankets and ran to put pressure on the workers’ bleeding wounds.
Some of the crews packed up for the day, shaken up by what they saw.
"I flipped out, actually. It scared me. I was hoping nobody died, more than anything," said Kersey.
