Scaffold accident leaves New York Freedom Tower window cleaners dangling in the air 69 stories above ground

 

A scaffold accident caused by an equipment failure of the traction hoist brake mechanism that supports one side of the rig, left two window washers dangling outside the 69th floor of One World Trade Center in Manhattan, NYC which opened for business last week.

The two window washers, Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez, were trapped for two hours until firefighters were able to rescue them. The two workers were brought to safety through a hole that firefighters cut in one of the windows.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the accident. It is not the first time that Tractel Group, the company that supplied the scaffold, has had an accident with its material. The company was fined $21,000 in 2008 after one worker died in an accident during which a scaffold that the Tractel Group had previously repaired gave way. Last June in midtown Manhattan two other window washers were left dangling 500 feet above ground after a scaffold built by the Tractel Group snapped. They were rescued by firefighters. Read more on the AP website