Construction accident near I-680 injures 3

A rebar tower weighing about 1,000 pounds fell at a Fremont construction site Wednesday morning, injuring three people, including one critically, a fire official said.

The three male workers were wrapping the rebar when it collapsed, Fremont Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Youngsma said. The accident happened just before 9 a.m.

State safety officials said this is the second ac- cident in which a worker was seriously hurt on this job in the past four months.

The construction site is in the area of Durham and Sabercat roads near Interstate 680. According to city staff reports, the workers are preparing the Mission Hills Square mixed-use development, which will have more than 55,000 square feet of retail and office space and 158 condominiums.

Two of the injured men were taken Wednesday by ambulance to the Valley Medical Center trauma center in Santa Clara, Youngsma said. One of them had moderate injuries that were not expected to be life-threatening.

A third injured man went to an undisclosed hospital with minorto-moderate injuries, Youngsma said.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or Cal/ OSHA, is handling the investigation. Spokesman Frank Polizzi identified the employer at the site as Queens Land Builder Inc. He added that the investigation to determine the cause of the accident and if any workplace violations occurred could take several months.

Polizzi said Cal/OSHA currently has another inspection open with Queens Land from the same construction site. In June, an employee was seriously injured when he fell from the second floor to the first floor while caulking.

Queens Land, which is based in Alhambra, did not immediately return requests for comment.