Five men injured in scaffolding collapse in Melbourne
Five workers have been hospitalised after being injured when scaffolding collapsed on a worksite in Melbourne’s north this afternoon.
National
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Five men have been hospitalised with serious injuries after scaffolding collapsed at a worksite in Melbourne’s north this afternoon.
Emergency services were called to Fortitude Drive, Craigieburn after section of scaffolding fell from the site at about 1pm.
Ambulance Victoria said paramedics arrived and treated five people in total.
The incident left two men with serious injuries. A man in his 20s was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a man in his 50s was taken to the Alfred Hospital.
Another three men were also injured and are in a stable condition.
A man in his 30s was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and two other men in their 20s were taken to the Alfred.
Victoria Police said the people were being treated for “non-life threatening injuries”.
A witness, Ross, called into 3AW to alert the radio station about the unfolding situation.
“I’ve just come across a very tragic incident. The scaffolding has collapsed on an apartment complex. There seems to be a lot of people hurt,” he told the station.
“There are two ambulance in attendance at the moment, fire bridge and police have just arrived. It’s a disaster out there.”
He said the scaffolding appeared to have fallen onto a car and some men who were at the site.
“It has fallen onto a car that is on the site and it’s fallen on to a couple of gentlemen that are underneath it,” Ross said.
Images from the scene show a large amount of scaffolding had fallen away from the side of a building.
People could be seen sitting on the ground near the worksite following the collapse.
WorkSafe has been notified of the incident.
This incident comes after a young tradie was killed when a similar collapse occurred in Sydney last year.
Christopher Cassaniti, 18, was crushed to death in April last year when scaffolding fell on him and another worker, 39, at a construction site in Macquarie Park
Emergency crews managed to free the older man but tragically Mr Cassaniti couldn’t be saved.
“(He was) asking for help,” said Darren Greenfield, the NSW state secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).
“Asking for help, asking for his mum. It’s very hard. Very hard. An 18-year-old-boy.
“I mean you see grown men crying, and you just think ‘not again, not another one, not another person not going home tonight’.”
Originally published as Five men injured in scaffolding collapse in Melbourne