HOUSTON – Firefighters rescued several workers Monday morning after the partial collapse of a building under construction just north of downtown Houston.
What happened
More than a dozen workers were finishing the seventh floor on a building in the 3400 block of North Main Street when the floor collapsed.
The building will eventually be an eight-story Holiday Inn.
VIDEO: Ground shots of the partial collapse
"Once they got the concrete poured and they distributed the concrete, part of the floor collapsed," Deputy Chief Richard Galvan, with the Houston Fire Department, said.
Fire Department officials said eight workers were rushed to local hospitals and seven others were treated for injuries.
"We've got broken wrists, broken arm, dislocated shoulder. They're being transported to area hospitals," Galvan said.
What workers are saying
Javier Cepeda was one of the men who fell 10 feet to the floor below.
“I say, 'God, God, help me. Help me. Help everybody. Help everybody,'” Cepeda said.
Cepeda suffered bumps and bruises.
He said he thinks the collapse was caused by a lack of metal bracing beneath the floor. He said the bracing wasn't properly installed.
"Too heavy,” Cepeda said. “And they have no support.”
Who is in charge of construction?
The job is being supervised by Classic Construction Co. No one answered the phone when KPRC 2 called the company Monday afternoon.
Inspectors with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had no comment.
UPDATE: 9 hospitalized. No word on how many TOTAL were working at the time. All expected to be OK. @KPRC2 #KPRC2
— KPRC Cathy Hernandez (@KPRC2Cathy) July 29, 2019
What's next
Work has been stopped on the job and won’t recommence until inspectors have gone through the building to ensure it’s safe.
"After a collapse, it's always going to be unsafe, until they come in and do an inspection to make sure it's safe to go in -- structurally it's safe to go back in," Galvan said.
