The head of a construction company building a 25-storey residential tower has revealed that many people died after a crane collapsed in Kelowna, B.C., recently.
Mission Group’s Jonathan Friesen said he didn’t know the factor that caused the collapse and that workers who died were subtrades on the building.
While talking to reporters, Friesen said: “They were on our site and as a result of their work they did lose their lives.
“Our corporate priority is, of course, for the safety of all of our workers and we want them to go home at the end of the day, healthy and safe. And that did not happen today.”
Friesen revealed construction would continue after WorkSafeBC’s investigation and that the RCMP would provide an update about the number of people that died.
He said: “Our Mission whole team, Mission staff, and all of our subtrades are in a state of shock.”
He added that grief counselling had been offered to anyone that needs it.
The RCMP disclosed that they responded to the collapse, which caused power outage in most of the city’s downtown core and compelled an evacuation of the surrounding area.
An email from the RCMP of Kelowna revealed there were “multiple casualties,” but police would not reveal any numbers or give any further details.
BC Emergency Health Services revealed that it conveyed three patients to hospital. It said an individual was in critical condition while another was severely hurt and the third person sustained minor injuries.
Kellie Orsted and her boss, Chris Fraser, were working in a building next to the construction site when the crane collapsed into their ground-floor offices.
While talking about how it happened, Orsted said: “It was like an explosion.”
She said the outside wall behind her desk caved in and pushed her office chair across the room.
She said she ran into Fraser’s office and only saw rubble.
She squinted through the heavy dust and she saw her boss with his head down. She thought he had died.
She said: “Then he moved. I helped pull the rubble off him and we got out of there as quick as we could.”
Fraser said when he heard the loud sound of the crash, he hid under his desk for protection.
He said the wall and part of the roof above his head caved in.
He said: “It was hard to see, there was so much dust.”
Labour Minister Harry Bains released a statement saying he was “deeply saddened to hear about this terrible incident.”
“All workers have the right to a safe and healthy workplace — even one injury or death is too many. This is a heartbreaking reminder that we must strive to ensure the safety of all workers to prevent incidents like this from happening.”
The crane was being used to construct a residential tower. While the building was under construction, the upper part of the crane toppled.
The City of Kelowna has declared a local state of emergency. In a news release, the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre revealed the construction site and the neighbouring area are unstable and unsafe.
