2023-10-30 14:33:23
Several workers died or went missing after the collapse of scaffolding on a major construction site in Hamburg, a port city in northern Germany, a fire department spokeswoman said on Monday, revising a previous provisional report.
“A person was injured and his life-threatening diagnosis is underway,” she said.
“One person is missing at this stage, who is still under the rubble,” she added. Firefighters had previously spoken of “several missing people”.
AFP
The killed workers were building an eight-story elevator shaft when the scaffolding toppled around 08:10 GMT, dragging them into the void, according to the popular daily Bild.
Around 70 members of the rescue teams are on the scene.
The accident, the causes of which remain unknown, occurred in the Hafencity, a huge redevelopment project of a former part of the port of Hamburg.
According to Bild, the scaffolding collapsed at Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, a new commercial, residential and leisure complex which is due to be completed in spring 2024.
AFP
The complex is also to include a new cruise ship terminal.
Its owner, the multinational Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, deplored a “tragic accident”.
The company, specializing in the management, promotion and investment of large shopping centers, provides its “support to the relief forces and works with the authorities,” it said in a press release.
“The rescue is proving very difficult,” a fire brigade spokesperson told the “Hamburger Morgenpost” newspaper, due to the tangled scaffolding elements making the intervention dangerous for the rescuers.
The entire site where some 700 workers were working was evacuated, according to Bild.
Police cordoned off the crash site and a rescue helicopter and several ambulances arrived to transport the injured.
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