Rescue crews help lower dangling man to safety after scaffold collapses
MIAMI -- Rescue crews worked for nearly an hour to rescue a man left dangling on the side of a building in Key Biscayne after a scaffold collapsed, reports CBS Miami.
CBS Miami dispatched its helicopter above Grand Bay Resort moments after the man, who was painting, was left dangling around 3 p.m. local time.
Nearly an hour later, with two rescue workers attached, the man was lowered to safety nine floors down.
Earlier, the situation looked tricky for those trying to help him.
“We have an adult male that, somehow, the scaffold failed and luckily his safety equipment that he had on was able to keep him falling 12 stories to the ground,” said Capt. Ignatius Carroll with Miami Fire Rescue.
Fire rescue crews were seen speaking to the man from a nearby balcony. He seemed to be calm.
During the rescue process, the man was able to put a bit of his foot on a ledge.
“The fact that he’s able to keep at least one leg on that ledge which is helping to take some of the stress off of the rope definitely is working in his favor and it helps us out as we assess the situation because we’re not sure from the incident whether or not the safety equipment could compromise a little,” said Carroll during the rescue operation.
About 30 minutes later, two rescue members had made their way down to the dangling worker in an effort to lower him down as opposed to going through the window next to him. Once they untangled him from his harness, the rescue crew and worker were lowered down to the ground.
Once they hit the ground, the worker was put onto a gurney and rolled to a nearby ambulance for treatment.
It remains unclear what caused the scaffold to collapse.
You can watch the entire rescue operation from CBS Miami in the video below:
