Worker killed, 2 injured after wall collapses in Lanikai
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – One employee was killed and two others injured after a wall collapsed at a building web site in Lanikai Wednesday morning.
Rescue crews have been referred to as to a house on Mokulua Drive at 8:56 am The first unit arrived minutes later.
According to the Honolulu Fire Department, a wall, roughly six-to-seven ft excessive, collapsed and buried a 58-year-old employee.
Two employees, ages 34 and 39, have been trapped beneath particles however rescued and handled for severe leg accidents and transported to the emergency room, based on Emergency Medical Services.
The buried employee died on the scene regardless of efforts to revive him after pulling him out of the particles.
“His injuries, multisystem trauma, multiple injuries, not life sustaining and despite efforts, he was pronounced on scene,” mentioned Shayne Enright, Emergency Medical Services public data officer.
Lanikai resident John Lindelow, who lives down the road, mentioned, “I saw two of them were conscious, and sitting there. They were in shock, stunned, and one of them said that he couldn’t move his legs.
“Those were the survivors, and there was another man further down toward the ocean, and they were digging him out of the rubble,” Lindelow continued.
Neighbor Alex Gutierrez was the first on the scene to call 9-1-1 and tried to rescue the buried man.
“The wall had collapsed on prime of him. So really, you could not see a lot of his physique. We began pulling the bricks off,” he said. “I want to send my condolences to the family members of the gentleman who passed.”
Firefighters remained to help secure the scene and stabilize the remaining construction, according to Capt. Keopele Gowan, Honolulu Fire Department public information officer.
No HFD personnel were injured.
Aalapapa Drive and Pokole Way were temporarily shut down as police investigated the scene.
It’s unclear what exactly happened. The workers were digging alongside the wall. Another worker building a new house on the site said they were digging a trench to pour a new concrete footing — to make the wall more stable. Neighbors said although it wasn’t raining at the time there were gusty winds that might have given it the fatal push.
“It fell down in a big sheet of a wall falling down,” Lindelow said.
The men and their company have not been identified. They were part of a masonry subcontractor on the project to build a second multi-million dollar home on the beachfront. The owners did not answer Hawaii News Now’s phone call.
On scene today were investigators from multiple agencies including the police, the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the city design and construction and building departments.
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