Man killed in Sea Isle City balcony collapse leaves behind wife, 3 daughters
SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- On Monday night, as federal investigators try to determine what caused a deadly balcony collapse in Sea Isle City, CBS Philadelphia is learning more about the man who was killed.
The collapse happened at a boardwalk condominium building on Friday.
Jose Pereira, 43, of Philadelphia, leaves behind a wife and three young daughters after the contractor was killed while working at the Spinnaker Condominium Complex in Sea Isle City near the boardwalk on Friday.
"It's a tragedy," Al Madgey, a neighbor, said.
As crews from another company came to the site on Monday to install support beams, Madgey expressed concerns.
"Something was wrong with that eighth floor," Madgey said.
Madgey recalls visiting his neighbor just two weeks ago here, standing on the seventh floor balcony and looking at the balcony above.
"It was shaking… the balcony was," Madgey said. "You can feel that it wasn't real stable."
Madgey said it's traumatizing that it cost the contractor his life.
"Terrible! He was under there for a while. The cook from the commodore club could hear him screaming bloody murder," Madgey said.
It's still not clear what caused the balcony to collapse. A spokesperson with Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it could take up to six months to finish its investigation.
"This really does appear to be a preventable tragedy," Jordan Strokosky, a personal injury attorney based in Philly, said.
Strokovsky says OSHA investigators will be trying to figure out if any regulations were disregarded.
"Prior to doing any work on a structure, you need to inspect it and you need to make sure that it's safe and it won't collapse and injure your workers," Strokovsky said. "And I won't be surprised at the end of the day OSHA does cite the employer."
Pereira worked for a contractor based in Yardley, Pennsylvania.
No one from the company returned CBS News Philadelphia's calls or emails.
