CHARLOTTE — Nearly a month after scaffolding collapsed at a Dilworth construction site, killing three workers, we’re hearing the 911 call made moments after it happened.
José Canaca, Jesús Olivares and Gilberto Fernández died after falling 70 feet on Jan. 2 at an apartment complex construction site along East Morehead Street. Two other workers were hurt.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” you can hear the 911 dispatcher ask the caller.
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“I don’t know. I’m in a tower crane and they have Hydro Mobiles below me that are working, and I just felt them hit my tower,” the caller says. “And I looked down below me and it’s no longer there.”
Then later, “I just felt it hit my tower and looked down and it collapsed below me. I don’t even know.”
The caller mentioned the term “Hydro Mobile.” Channel 9 learned it’s a brand of mast climber platforms which can move up and down.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s investigation into what happened could take up to six months to complete.
Channel 9 asked Mecklenburg County if they have any oversight on the scaffolding that collapsed. They said code enforcement only has authority over the structure itself, not the equipment.
There’s no word if the workers were wearing harnesses at the time.
(WATCH BELOW: More construction companies ask for OSHA training after deadly scaffolding collapse)
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