2 Die As Scaffold Drops 15 Floors In Abu Dhabi

Civil defence units struggled to pull the two out of the scaffold but they died minutes later.

Window cleaners plunge to death in Abu Dhabi. The scaffold they were using to clean the glass of tower snapped: Two Asian workers were killed after the scaffold they were using to clean the glass of a tower in Abu Dhabi snapped at the 15th level and plunged down to the ground. Police and civil defence units who rushed to the building on Khalifa Street in the town centre struggled to pull the two out of the scaffold but they died minutes later. Emarat Al Youm Arabic language daily quoted a civil defence official as saying they would join hands with the police to investigate the cause of the accident. It was the second scaffold accident in the capital in nearly a week but the two workers in the first incident were rescued by the civil defence. “Cleaning companies should regularly maintain their scaffolds to prevent such serious accidents,” said Captain Abdullah al Tamimi, director of the customers service and public relations section at the civil defence department.

Two cleaning workers fall to death in Capital: Two Indian workers plunged to death after the suspended platform from where they were cleaning the windows of a tower in the capital crashed to the ground on Tuesday. According to eyewitnesses and the building management, the accident happened as the duo were cleaning the windows on the 15th floor. The cradle crashed just around 3.20pm. Both the workers died on the spot with the platform completely smashed. Their bodies were cut into pieces by platform metals and due to the impact of the crash. Major Ismail Mohammad Saeed Al Shamsi, from the Operations Department at the Abu Dhabi General Directorate of Civil Defence, said primary information indicated that the incident occurred when the two workers were cleaning the facade of a high-rise tower and the suspended platform they were mounting suddenly fell down. As soon as the operations room was reported about the mishap, the civil defence engines and ambulance rushed to the accident site where the two cleaners were found breathing their last.

This is the second such incident to happen within a week. Last Monday, two Asian cleaners escaped death when they were rescued by the Abu Dhabi Police after one of the wires holding the suspended platform the two workers were standing on at the 15th floor of a building at Al Salam Street in Abu Dhbai got loosened. The 25-storey building, Baniyas Tower, is located in a prime location at the Corniche at the Muroor Road junction. “I was inside the building when the accident happened. I heard a sound but never realised it was the suspended platform that had crashed, and soon one of the cleaners came to me and told me about the accident,” said a staff member of the building management. He said he had immediately called the building management and reported the incident. Soon the police, civil defence and paramedical teams arrived and removed the bodies of the two workers in police ambulances.

He identified one of the window cleaners as Raj Kumar, an Indian aged between 26 and 27. “I know Raj Kumar. He has been cleaning the building for quite some time. The other worker who died was new and I don’t know him,” he told Khaleej Times. The fatal accident and the two fatalities have also been confirmed by the Abu Dhabi Police that is investigating the cause of the suspended platform falling to the ground. No officials from the cleaning company were available for the comment. An eyewitness from Bangladesh said: “I saw the cables of the suspended platform breaking. There was huge sound as the suspended platform landed on the ground on the Muroor Road side. It was horrible to see these two workers in blood.” Another nearby resident said: “When I heard the big bang, I rushed out from a nearby shop to check. Their bodies were beyond recognition and it was a terrifying scene to see.”

The broken maintenance cradle lying on the ground near the building on the corniche street in Abu Dhabi.

Two window cleaners fall from 10th floor: Police still investigating cause of accident that killed two window cleaners in Abu Dhabi. Police on Wednesday were  still investigating the cause of an accident that killed two Asian window cleaners. The cleaners died after they fell from the 15th floor of the Dubai Commercial Bank building located on Khalifa Street in Abu Dhabi when their scaffolding collapsed on Tuesday afternoon. A witness working at the café in the next building told Gulf News that the accident took place at approximately 3:20pm. Major Esmail Mohammad Saeed Al Shamsi, from the civil defense, said that the two men were trapped under the fallen platform where they died, as the defense team tried to rescue them. Al Shamsi said that upon receiving the news, Abu Dhabi police cars and ambulances were sent to the scene, along with the civil defense and security media.

First Lieutenant Abdullah Hamad Al Tamimi, head of the Customer Service Centre at the General Directorate of Civil Defence in Abu Dhabi, urged all those working in the construction and maintenance field to carry out regular checks on their equipment to make sure that these have not been subject to wear and tear. These safety measures must be taken in order to ensure the safety of their users and those surrounding keeping in mind that the Civil Defense carried out the Salamatak (your safety) campaign to raise workers awareness in the industrial sector, Al Tamimi said. Last week, two workers were rescued by the Abu Dhabi Police after the rope supporting their scaffolding snapped.