Tweet
<span style="font-style: italic">no one has come forward to claim his body</span> 
Winston Gillett, 67
<span style="font-size: 14pt">Worker killed, second seriously hurt in Brooklyn building collapse</span>
Published: Monday, September 10, 2012, 10:29 AM
One construction worker was crushed to death and another was badly injured Monday when a Brooklyn building partially collapsed and sent them plunging 40 feet from the roof.
Winston Gillett, 67, died at Brooklyn Hospital, while Clayton LaBoard, 43, remained in critical condition at Kings County Hospital hours after the morning accident.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The pair, plus three other hardhats were on atop 227 Carlton Ave. in Fort Greene while cement blocks were being loaded.</span>
“The building was already shaking. It had too much stuff. It was overloaded,” said bricklayer Ignatius Regis, who was on the roof.
He said a site supervisor called down to the crane operator to stop him from dropping more pallets — but the warning came too late.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The roof collapsed reportedly due to the excessive weight of the cinderblocks that were sitting on top of it. </span>
Under the heavy load, an I-beam gave way and two of the workers fell through the unfinished building into the basement.
“It was so fast. I couldn’t describe it,” Regis said. “I wish I could have helped them, but I just couldn’t.”
Regis and another man managed to run to an adjoining roof. A fifth worker dangled in the air for several terrifying moments before pulling himself to safety, officials said.
Stunned, Regis and his co-workers ran downstairs to help the two laborers trapped under tons of rubble.
“We went to dig them out with our bare hands,” he said, adding that there was too much debris.
Firefighters raced to the scene and extricated the two soot-covered men.
“They couldn’t talk. They couldn’t say nothing.<span style="font-weight: bold"> Winston was in very bad shape. All the bricks were on top of him,” he said.</span>
Alex Sichel, who lives two houses down, said neighbors were worried about the project before the accident.
“One of the concerns is that they were putting things that were too heavy on top of the building,” she said.
“There were other concerns. We had things falling off our building from the shaking.
Regis said the two laborers were “good men, dedicated workers” and blamed time pressure for the collapse.
“All work sites have a problem. They’re rushing. Nobody cares about workers. They care about making money,” he said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/work...4#ixzz26DotVBR0
Winston Gillett, 67
<span style="font-size: 14pt">Worker killed, second seriously hurt in Brooklyn building collapse</span>
Published: Monday, September 10, 2012, 10:29 AM
One construction worker was crushed to death and another was badly injured Monday when a Brooklyn building partially collapsed and sent them plunging 40 feet from the roof.
Winston Gillett, 67, died at Brooklyn Hospital, while Clayton LaBoard, 43, remained in critical condition at Kings County Hospital hours after the morning accident.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The pair, plus three other hardhats were on atop 227 Carlton Ave. in Fort Greene while cement blocks were being loaded.</span>
“The building was already shaking. It had too much stuff. It was overloaded,” said bricklayer Ignatius Regis, who was on the roof.
He said a site supervisor called down to the crane operator to stop him from dropping more pallets — but the warning came too late.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The roof collapsed reportedly due to the excessive weight of the cinderblocks that were sitting on top of it. </span>
Under the heavy load, an I-beam gave way and two of the workers fell through the unfinished building into the basement.
“It was so fast. I couldn’t describe it,” Regis said. “I wish I could have helped them, but I just couldn’t.”
Regis and another man managed to run to an adjoining roof. A fifth worker dangled in the air for several terrifying moments before pulling himself to safety, officials said.
Stunned, Regis and his co-workers ran downstairs to help the two laborers trapped under tons of rubble.
“We went to dig them out with our bare hands,” he said, adding that there was too much debris.
Firefighters raced to the scene and extricated the two soot-covered men.
“They couldn’t talk. They couldn’t say nothing.<span style="font-weight: bold"> Winston was in very bad shape. All the bricks were on top of him,” he said.</span>
Alex Sichel, who lives two houses down, said neighbors were worried about the project before the accident.
“One of the concerns is that they were putting things that were too heavy on top of the building,” she said.
“There were other concerns. We had things falling off our building from the shaking.
Regis said the two laborers were “good men, dedicated workers” and blamed time pressure for the collapse.
“All work sites have a problem. They’re rushing. Nobody cares about workers. They care about making money,” he said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/work...4#ixzz26DotVBR0
Comment