Five New York Workers Injured in Construction Accident

Five workers were seriously injured on Wednesday when a section of scaffolding collapsed at a Binghamton University construction site. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the construction accident that caused five workers to fall nearly five stories to the ground.

The construction accident took place on Binghamton University’s East Campus. The five men were working on a site that would eventually become Delaware Hall, a residential community for BU students. According to a local news article, the scaffolding was positioned about 60 feet up and spanned the width of three dorm windows at the time of the incident. While working, the scaffolding suddenly collapsed sending the workers hurling to the ground.  

The 911 call came into university police and Broome County dispatch around 12:28 p.m. Shortly after, four of the five construction workers were taken to Wilson Regional Medical Center and the other to Lourdes Hospital in New York. One of the workers was in critical condition with the other four in stable condition prior to arriving at the hospital.

The current state of the injured workers has yet to be released.

LeChase Construction Services, who was overseeing the construction of the new building, expressed that they are investigating the cause of the accident and have shut down the site indefinitely. No immediate explanation was given as to why the support measures failed in this scaffolding accident.  

The building is part of the campus’s new housing project aimed at bring more than 900 new beds to campus. The new dormitory is scheduled to open in 2011 and will house about 400 students once completed.  

Related Resources:

• Workers fall five stories as scaffolding collapses at BU