Woman crushed by falling pallet of bricks
A WOMAN was fighting for her life last night after being crushed under a pallet of bricks which fell nearly 21 metres from a crane as she walked past a building site in London.
Passers-by rushed to help the 28year-old as she lay unconscious on the pavement yesterday morning amid bricks and broken wood.
The debris, from a luxury flats development, fell seven storeys and landed on top of her. Paramedics were called to the scene in Mile End, east London, at 9.30am and took the woman to a nearby major trauma hospital with severe injuries.
A man was also taken to hospital suffering from shock.
Alan Harris, 72, who alerted the emergency services, said: ‘There was a loud bang and I looked around to see a woman pointing skywards, screaming for an ambulance. She was hysterical. I then saw a woman laid out beside her.
‘Within five minutes, there were five or six police cars and ambulances. It looked to me like the wooden pallet holding the bricks had snapped from about 16 foot above the seven-storey building itself.’
Mr Harris, who owns a business which faces the development, added: ‘From a health and safety point of view, it never should have happened. It was lucky there weren’t more people.’
Police said the woman, who has not been named, was in a critical condition and her family have been informed.
The crane was working on Bow Corner, a development of 19 apartments. The crane’s wooden basket appeared to have broken and the cargo net which held the bricks was ripped open.
Local councillor Shah Alam, who lives a few doors from where the accident took place, said that following the horrific incident, he has raised health and safety concerns with Tower Hamlets Council.
He said: ‘They have been working here for eight months but they have never had any hazard notices or barriers to protect people.
‘There were no staff present while the crane operated overhead. There are three primary schools nearby, a nursery, a church and a mosque. My neighbour doesn’t feel safe walking her children to school.’
The UK Health and Safety Executive said their inspectors attended the building site yesterday and were working with police to investigate what had happened.
The Bow Corner development is owned by Higgins Homes. Steve Boreham, its construction director said: ‘Our primary thoughts and concerns are with the lady who has been injured.
‘We are working with the Health and Safety Executive, who are investigating the incident to determine the cause... Our priority at the moment is of course to make the area safe.’