The Houston Fire Department reported that the first crews arrived within three minutes after the collapse was reported around 11:10 a.m. (12:10 p.m. ET).
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At least six people were pulled from massive piles of scaffolding that collapsed on Friday at an apartment building under construction in downtown Houston and emergency workers were scrambling to find any others, fire officials said. The department says the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Six construction workers have been transported to near-by hospitals.
Firefighters could be seen walking around the scene, in a few cases getting underneath the rubble of scaffolding. One worker was shown being pulled from the wreckage and placed on a stretcher.
Lozano said a secondary collapse is not only possible, but highly likely.
Witnesses said a domino-like collapse sent a cascade of metal tumbling to the pavement.
“We ran over as soon as we heard it, it sounded like a bunch of boulders”, the witness told KHOU 11 News. Within about 30 minutes, more than 30 units – including several heavy rescue personnel – were already on-site.
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The company released a statement that read, “We are monitoring the situation very closely and working alongside authorities as we try to determine the cause of this accident”.
