Sydney Window Cleaners Rescued

A window cleaner hangs precariously from a gurney outside the AON building on George St, Parramatta.

Window cleaners rescued from gurney on George Street, Parramatta: Two window cleaners were rescued from a 12-storey building in George St Parramatta this morning after their gurney became stuck seven storeys up. Fire and Rescue teams were called at about 8.30am when the gurney became stuck outside the Aon building at 130 George St under a ledge at the seventh level as the window cleaners were doing their job. But, as the men were in good spirits and uninjured, the gurney manufacturer BMU was called in to pull the men up to safety at the top of the building.

Chopper-cam: The men were reached by 10am and the rescue is going smoothly. The men are uninjured.

The men were finally pulled to safety at about 11.30am but shied away from the media. Parramatta Fire and Rescue station commander Bob Callow told the media that BMU had the equipment to pull the gurney away from the building and back up to the top. Fire and Rescue crews from Parramatta, Eastwood and Merrylands were there to assist and had taken a ladder up to monitor the rescue operation and check on the men's welfare. "They were in good spirits but wanted to stay together until they could be hauled to safety," Mr Callow said. "At one stage, the wind picked up which was a bit of a worry. We would have stepped in if the wind had reached higher levels." The men were reached by 10am and the rescue is going smoothly. The men are uninjured.

Parramatta window cleaners safe after broken platform left them seven storeys above ground: Two men left dangling from a stricken cleaning platform seven storeys above the ground have manually pulled themselves to safety in Sydney's west. The pair in blue cleaning jump suits were stranded on the platform 25 metres above George Street in Parramatta. The two-metre-long structure lost power shortly after 9am (AEST) and the right side dropped against the office building. Rescue crews were called to the scene about 10am but the cleaners declined a quick rescue. A large crane pulled up alongside to assist the men if needed. But they worked for over two hours to manually winch themselves upright and to the top of the building. Dozens of office workers gathered to watch the operation as they took their lunch breaks. The two men have no injuries but are shaken by the incident.

A rescue crane pulls alongside the platform to help if needed.

Watchman pulls building cleaners to safety (Abu Dhabi) - Two Bangladeshi workers cleaning a high-rise building had a miraculous escape on Tuesday when the building watchman pulled them to safety through an apartment window after ropes connecting to their scaffolding came loose. The accident occurred on Tuesday at around 10am at the Salam Bombay restaurant building behind Electra Street. Cleaners Sabikur Rahman and Jaman Mandal, both 25, told XPRESS they lost balance when the rope came loose on one side, tilting their platform to the right. “We held on to the rope. Otherwise we would have fallen down,” said Mandal who is married with a one year old baby in Bangladesh. Rahman said they called out for the watchman who came to their rescue within minutes.

Mohammed Jaffer, the building watchman said, “As soon as I heard them screaming for help, I rushed to the fifth floor where the scaffolding was stuck. They were outside the bathroom of a vacant apartment. I forced open the glass window with the help of two other people and pulled them in,”
Another watchman called the police rescue team that arrived at the spot with three fire trucks. The rescue team brought down the scaffolding with a crane. A managerial staff from cleaning company Super Bright General Contracting, said the cleaning apparatus was recently checked by a safety management company. “We have got a six-month approval from the company that checked our apparatus at the beginning of this month,” said the staff. There was no immediate comment from the safety management company.