Worker killed in 15 story fall from building. Image Courtesy: June.By Kathleen Walter Saturday, September 3rd 2016
Federal officials are investigating what caused a West Palm Beach construction worker to fall 15-stories to his death.
CBS12 has learned from West Palm Beach City Administrator Jeff Green that The Alexander construction site, located at Fern Street and Dixie Highway, has been the subject of at least four work-stop orders imposed by the city since construction got underway.
One of the orders was for an issue related to shoring.
Another was a result of vibration that may have led to the collapse of a brick facade at the nearby Alexander Lofts building earlier this year. Ceco Concrete Construction worker Carlos Humberto Lopez plunged from the fifteenth floor of the unfinished building on Thursday.
At the site on Friday, construction stopped, while OSHA—the Occupation Safety and Health Administration—investigates.
The Alexander is jointly owned by Ram Realty Services and Kolter Group. Kast Construction, in a statement, called the incident an unfortunate tragedy.
Their statement reads, in part, “OSHA has conducted their initial investigation and concluded the site is safe for workers. We’ll continue to cooperate with OSHA’s requests as they will remain on site through next week.”
CBS12 reached out to Ceco Concrete Construction on Friday, but they did not return our calls. West Palm Beach Police issued a statement on Friday saying that no foul play is suspected.
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Company releases statement on worker who fell to death in West Palm.
Kast Construction CEO Michael Neal released this statement: “Yesterday’s accident was an unfortunate tragedy and our thoughts are with Mr. Lopez’s family. OSHA has conducted their initial investigation and concluded the site is safe for workers. We will continue to cooperate with OSHA’s requests as they will remain on site through next week. We will keep the media informed of any important updates.” 3:39 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, 2016
His family was at the site, visibly shaken and speaking with their attorney. They declined to go on camera but Lopez's attorney told CBS12 the harness he was wearing broke. It is also likely that the procedure that Ceco Construction was using to place the concrete was inherently dangerous, as is evidenced by some of the photos we posted here showing workers not wearing harness while performing activities near the edge of the roof.
WEST PALM BEACH — City police Friday identified the construction worker who died after he fell from the 15th floor of a building downtown this week as Carlos Lopez-Sanchez.
Police spokeswoman Detective Lori Colombino said no foul play is suspected in the 27-year-old man’s death.
West Palm Beach Fire Rescue workers respond to the scene where a worker
allegedly fell from a construction project on US1 between Evernia and
Fern Streets in downtown West Palm Beach on September 1, 2016. (Richard
Graulich / The Palm Beach Post)In the statement released by Kast Construction, CEO Michael Neal said the “accident was an unfortunate tragedy and our thoughts are with Mr. Lopez’s family.”
At about 1:45 p.m. Thursday, city police and fire rescue crews were called to the soon-to-be apartment complex The Alexander on the northeast corner of Fern Street and South Dixie Highway.
West Palm Beach Fire Rescue workers respond to the scene where a worker allegedly fell from a construction project on US1 between Evernia and Fern Streets in downtown West Palm Beach on September 1, 2016. (Richard Graulich / The Palm Beach Post)
First responders pronounced Lopez-Sanchez dead at the scene. No one else was injured that afternoon, though firefighters searched through debris around the building to see if anyone may have been trapped. South Dixie was closed for several hours as city police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the scene.
Kast Construction said the staff from OSHA have completed their initial investigation and ruled it safe for workers to be back to work. Investigators will remain at the site through next week, Kast said.
OSHA said it does not have any preliminary reports to release at this time.
As construction workers made their way back to the scene Friday morning, a large piece of plywood and metal framework remained in pieces around the construction site. Assistant Fire Chief Diana Matty said it is believed the debris fell Thursday when Lopez-Sanchez did.
None of the agencies investigating the incident have said what may have led to the fall.
Ram Realty, one of the two companies who own the building, referred all questions about the fatality to Kast Construction.
Across the street from The Alexander is the Alexander Lofts apartment complex, also owned by Ram Realty. The brick facade wall around the Lofts collapsed earlier this year, injuring several and causing damage to the law firm next door.
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Construction worker killed in fall from building
By Lynda Figueredo Thursday, September 1st 2016
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS12) — Investigators are trying to determine what went wrong when a worker fell 15 stories to his death in downtown West Palm Beach.
Authorities say the man was working on the top floor of the new Alexander Building on Fern Street near South Dixie Highway when the tragedy happened.
Sebastian Morales works at Victor's Produce in Lake Worth.
Every day his friend from Guatemala, Carlos Humberto Lopez, would stop in after work to grab a meal. But not today.
Lopez, who is employed by Ceco Concrete Construction, was working on the unfinished 15th floor of the new apartment building when something went wrong.
His family was at the site, visibly shaken and speaking with their attorney. They declined to go on camera but Lopez's attorney told CBS12 the harness he was wearing broke. It is also likely that the procedure that Ceco Construction was using to place the concrete was inherently dangerous, as is evidenced by some of the photos we posted here showing workers not wearing harness while performing activities near the edge of the roof.
CBS12 reached out to the general contractor of the site, KAST Construction. OSHA is now investigating.
This is the same company under investigation for possibly having a role in the collapse of the brick facade at the Alexander Lofts across the street earlier this year.
The building is jointly-owned by Ram Reality Services and Kolter Group. Neither has responded to our requests for information. Ram also owns the apartment building across the street from the Alexander Lofts.
Those that frequent downtown are concerned for their safety.
"Right before it happened I was going back and forth where the collapse was and what is scary is it was within the hour and I could very easily crushed," said Jerry Anderson.
As for Lopez, he leaves behind a wife and 4-year-old girl.
KAST CEO Michael Neal released this statement Friday afternoon:Yesterday’s accident was an unfortunate tragedy and our thoughts are with Mr. Lopez’s family. OSHA has conducted their initial investigation and concluded the site is safe for workers. We will continue to cooperate with OSHA’s requests as they will remain on site through next week. We will keep the media informed of any important updates.
Ceco Concrete Construction, LLC is one of several companies comprising the Heico Construction Group – a group of companies owned by the parent holding company Heico. which also owns organizations in its three other platforms: Ancra Group, Heico Metal Processing Group, and Pettibone L.L.C.
Heico is privately held and maintains majority ownership in each of its operations. In aggregate, Heico’s businesses generate more than $2 billion in revenues. As a result of its diversity of operations and conservative capital structure, Heico has continuously maintained an investment grade rating with Standard and Poor’s since 1997.
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Woman recalls chaos after worker fell to death in West Palm
6:05 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 | Filed in: Central PBC
WEST PALM BEACH — As Jairisheila Gomez headed down Dixie Highway to pick her 5-year daughter up from school Thursday, she was stopped near Fern Street and noticed a commotion: More than 20 construction workers were screaming and cursing, trying to stop traffic and get everyone out of the road in downtown West Palm Beach.
Then, she saw the body.
West Palm Beach Fire Rescue workers respond to the scene where a worker allegedly fell from a construction project on U.S. 1 between Evernia and Fern streets in downtown West Palm Beach on September 1, 2016. (Richard Graulich / The Palm Beach Post)
“With all this crazy stuff going on, I didn’t know if he was shot or passed out,” she said. It wasn’t until she got home later did she learn what happened to the man.
Carlos Lopez-Sanchez was working on the 15th floor of the soon-to-be apartment complex, The Alexander, on the northeast corner of Fern Street and South Dixie Highway when he fell, according to city police. The 27-year-old landed in the street below and was declared dead at the scene, officials said.
Across the street, a large piece of plywood and metal framework, similar to the platforms on the top floor, lay mangled and in pieces. No one else was injured at the scene.
West Palm Beach Fire Rescue workers respond to the scene where a worker allegedly fell from a construction project on U.S. 1 between Evernia and Fern Streets in downtown West Palm Beach on September 1, 2016. (Richard Graulich / The Palm Beach Post)
West Palm Beach police say there is no foul play suspected in the fall, but they and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration continue to investigate what led to the man’s death.
After she noticed the body, Gomez said she closed her eyes.
“I just didn’t want to see it anymore,” the West Palm Beach resident said.
Gomez said it was just by chance she was downtown that afternoon too. The 25-year-old doesn’t spend a lot of time there except when she got married at the courthouse last year and other times she goes out to CityPlace.
On Thursday afternoon, she was just trying to get her last name changed to her husband’s at the Social Security office. When she realized the line was too long and she’d have to be heading out to pick up her daughter soon, she left and end up at the intersection just a minute or two after the fatal fall.
She said there were a few cars ahead of her, but everyone started backing up to get away from the intersection while everyone else tried to figure out what to do. She headed down to Flagler, and that’s when she saw the ambulances.
“I thought: Let me get far away from here,” she said. “It’s sad. He was just working and this happened.”
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