One man dead another seriously injured in Brisbane wall collapse

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A wall collapse at a Brisbane building site has left one man dead and another fighting for his life. The accident left the tradies covered in heavy concrete blocks, making rescue efforts extremely difficult. Residents on a bordering property were also told to leave after police feared the emergency left it structurally unsound.

Transcript

00:00Conscious the entire time, a paramedic tends to the injured teenager as frantic emergency

00:09workers desperately try to free him.

00:12One by one they move dirt using shovels, bare hands and sledgehammers.

00:18He was left in situ due to the complexity of the entrapment.

00:24The terrified 19-year-old was having breathing difficulties while his legs were hidden in

00:29the crush of concrete below.

00:31My understanding is that they were working in a shallow trench about five to six hundred

00:36millimetres deep and the retaining wall was located on the boundary about a metre from

00:41where they were working.

00:43Police say quick thinking action from workers moments after the accident to move some concrete

00:47blocks from his upper body were vital.

00:51In doing that they probably saved his life.

00:53It took a painstaking 75 minutes but inch by inch they finally freed him.

01:02He was very lucky.

01:03He did have some compression injuries to his legs but he was nice and stable.

01:06There was no other significant injuries.

01:08Police say the 45-year-old colleague who died at the scene was the teenager's relative.

01:13It's a tragic thing to have happened so close to Christmas.

01:18The wall collapse happened on a social housing building site.

01:21The company has declined to comment.

01:23Workplace Health and Safety is investigating the accident and another on this Gold Coast work

01:29site just yesterday where 15-year-old Beau Bradford suffered severe injuries and later died.

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