One dead after load from construction crane falls on Vancouver building

VANCOUVER

One person has died after a load from a crane fell on a building under construction in Vancouver’s Oakridge neighbourhood.

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 fourblock 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.”

BC 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.