Window washer, fearing death, called wife during NYC scaffold scare

NEW YORK -- Investigators are looking into the collapse of a World Trade Center scaffold that left two window washers dangling from the nation's tallest skyscraper, 1 World Trade Center.

The workers were trapped 68 stories above the street when a cable suddenly developed slack Wednesday.

The workers held on to the teetering platform for two agonizing hours. One called his wife during the ordeal, fearful that it might be his last opportunity to speak to her.

Firefighters used diamond cutters to saw through a double-layered window and pulled the men to safety.

The dramatic rescue, coming a little more than a week after the building officially opened, was followed by throngs of New Yorkers watching from the ground and many more around the world watching on live TV.

The window washers, Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez, were working on the south side of the lower Manhattan building when one of the platform's four cables abruptly gave way, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. The open-topped platform tilted sharply and swayed slightly between the 68th and 69th floors, he said.

"It suddenly went from horizontal to nearly vertical," Nigro said.

CBS New York reports that Lopez, 43, of the Bronx has five years of experience on the job, according to Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union. Lizama, 41, of New Jersey, has 14 years of experience.

Their union said it makes sure workers follow rigorous safety protocols.

Lopez's girlfriend said she did not even know he was in trouble until half an hour before he was pulled to safety.

"I seen them pull him in and I freaked and my mother-in-law called me before that," said Jennifer Nieves. "I was crying. I was freaking out. We just had two babies - twins - so yeah, it was a little crazy."

In West New York, New Jersey, Lizama's son was too shaken to talk about the rescue he watched on TV.

Officials haven't determined what caused the cable problem, the fire commissioner said.

It was unclear whether anything about the design of the 1,776-foot, 104-story skyscraper complicates working on the window washing scaffolds, which went into service in June.

The silvery $3.9 billion skyscraper that rose from the ashes of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack, opened last week to 175 employees of magazine publisher Conde Nast. Steps away are two memorial fountains built on the footprints of the decimated twin towers, a reminder of the more than 2,700 people who died in the attack.

CBS New York reports that the company that supplied the scaffold is the Tractel Group.

In June 2013, Tractel was involved in a scaffold collapse at the Hearst Tower, in which two workers were rescued 45 stories above Midtown.

In December 2007, one man died and another was seriously injured when their scaffold fell 47 stories on East 66th Street.

Tractel was fined $21,000 for improper rope installation.