Fifth worker dies after accident on construction site
A fifth construction worker has died following a serious accident on a major construction site in Hamburg's Hafencity. This was confirmed by the police situation center in Hamburg late Thursday evening in response to a dpa inquiry. This was first reported by NDR.
The worker had been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries following the collapse of scaffolding on October 30. Four construction workers died at the site of the accident.
According to previous findings, scaffolding had collapsed into an elevator shaft on October 30. According to the fire department, it fell from the eighth floor into the basement. Debris reached as far as the second floor. Shortly after the accident, the incident commander described the mountain of debris as a "giant mikado" of scaffolding poles.
There were normally around 1,400 workers on the construction site, but on the day of the accident - a bridge day before Reformation Day - there were only around 700, a fire department spokesperson said.
HafenCity is considered Europe's largest inner-city urban development project. There have already been several serious accidents on the construction sites there. On September 2, four workers suffered life-threatening injuries in a similar accident at a construction site on Hamburg's Elbe bridges - not far from Hafencity.
The construction site has seen numerous emergency responses due to accidents, underlining the need for strict safety measures during work. In light of the recent fatalities, investigations are underway to prevent such incidents in the future.
Source: www.dpa.com
