Raleigh scaffolding collapse kills 3 construction workers

RALEIGH, N.C. Three construction workers were killed and another seriously injured late Monday morning when an exterior lift system tore from the side of an office building under construction in downtown Raleigh.

A witness, LeRoy Kelley, said workers were dismantling a "mast climber" on the 11-story Charter Square building on Fayetteville Street when the elevator-like system collapsed, sending a mobile scaffolding platform to the ground.

Kelley, of Raleigh, was working with concrete under the scaffolding when he heard a popping sound and someone shouting "Run!" As he ran beneath the building, he heard an enormous crash.

Kelley said one worker was in a portable toilet that was crushed by the falling platform. Kelley had just exited the restroom, holding the door open for the next man just moments before the collapse, he said.

Authorities identified the dead workers as Jose Erasmo Hernandez, 41, of Durham; Jose Luis Lopez-Ramirez, 33, of Clinton; and Anderson Almeida, 33, of Durham. The injured worker, who was taken to WakeMed, was Elmer Guevara, 53. Authorities said they were not sure where Guevara lives.

A person who called 911 indicated that some of the workers were aboard the platform when it fell, according to a recording of the call.

Raleigh-based Dominion Realty Partners is developing the 243,000-square-foot building. Choate Construction is the general contractor.

Mike Hampton, Choate's chief operating officer, said a subcontractor, Associated Scaffolding, was in the process of dismantling the mast climbers, which transport crews and materials to different positions on a building's facade.

"Today was the day they were supposed to start dismantling them," Hampton said from Atlanta. "That process had begun. We don't know what happened, but it occurred in the process of dismantling the climbers."

"That's what they do," Hampton said of Associated Scaffolding, which has offices in Durham and Raleigh. "It wasn't a glass company that was doing scaffolding. ... They're a very large company, very well-versed, with a good track record."

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Raleigh scaffolding collapse kills 3 construction workers