Man Has Face 'Ripped Off' By A Sofa

A witness said: "There were people cleaning the windows. A security guard at the hotel said they had put the sofa into the cradle, which was big enough for three men and it fell out."

Man's face 'ripped off' by sofa falling from luxury London hotel penthouse: A man reportedly had his 'face ripped off' in a horrifying incident that saw a sofa fall from a luxury London hotel penthouse. The man was walking past the W Hotel in Leicester Square when the sofa fell from scaffolding on one of the £9,533-a-month penthouses on the ninth floor. It is now believed the sofa had been put on a window cleaning cradle before it fell.

According to the Mirror, a witness said: "There were people cleaning the windows. A security guard at the hotel said they had put the sofa into the cradle, which was big enough for three men and it fell out." The witness added: "[The man] looked like his face had been ripped off." The victim was taken to hospital with a serious head injury, and is believed to be in a critical but stable condition.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Police were called at 8.54am on Friday 30 October to reports of a pedestrian injured in Wardour Street W1. "At this early stage it is believed he was injured by a piece of furniture which fell from scaffolding. "The man aged in his 20s taken to an east London hospital by London's Air Ambulance. His condition is critical but stable."

A spokeswoman for Starwood Hotels, the parent group of W Hotels, said: "We are aware of an incident at the Swiss Centre which also houses W London Leicester Square. "The exact circumstances of this accident are still being investigated. "Our thoughts and prayers go to the gentleman concerned, who is being treated in hospital for his injuries." The spokesman said: "The man, aged in his twenties, was taken to an east London hospital by London's Air Ambulance "His condition is critical but stable. "The Health and Safety Executive has been informed."

The newspaper quoted one witness as saying: "[The man] looked like his face had been ripped off. "It was raining and where the drops were hitting his face it was making him scream in agony."

White Knuckle Ride For Chinese Window Cleaners

Bad day at work for two Chinese window cleaners on China's second tallest building, the Shanghai World Financial Centre. The platform crashed into window of 100 Century Avenue Restaurant, shattering the glass. All employees on the 91st floor were then immediately evacuated. and luckily, the two workers on board at the time were not shaken off the platform and only suffered minor injuries.

Window cleaners take ride of their lives: Window cleaners endured a terrifying 15 minutes yesterday when the platform they were working from hundred of meters above ground began swinging violently. The pair were suspended between the 91st and 92nd floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center, the city’s second-tallest building at 492 meters, when their cradle slammed into a curtain wall, sending glass flying into the building and down to the ground.

The white-knuckle ride, which began at 9:15am, lasted about 15 minutes before the platform stopped swinging and could be lowered to a place where the cleaners were able to get off, Shanghai TV reported. The men have some bruises and one sprained his wrist, but they were otherwise unharmed by the ordeal, Yao Hui, a press officer with the building, told Shanghai Daily.

The men work for a cleaning company and were carrying out regular maintenance, he said. Some glass fell inside the building, so people on the 91st floor were evacuated, Yao said. While the cause of the incident is unknown, it was “confirmed that no ropes of the platform had snapped,” he said. A person inside the financial center managed to capture part of the incident on a cellphone and later uploaded the clip to the Internet.

Window cleaners take ride of their lives.

Window cleaners spin out of control on top of China’s second-tallest building: Two window cleaners working on China's second tallest building found themselves swinging violently almost 500 metres above the ground after their suspended platform spun out of control. The incident happened this morning at the Shanghai World Financial Centre, a 101-storey, 492 metre-tall skyscraper. The video, shot from the 100th floor restaurant, shows the hanging platform out of control repeatedly smashing into the glass walls at speed, causing loud thumping noises.

"I'm worried for them," a nearby spectator can be heard saying in English. Just before the video ends, a small fragment can be seen falling from the base of the platform as it is damaged by the impacts. The Shanghai Daily News reports that the hanging platform smashed through the curtain wall, and the two workers were treated in hospital with minor bruises. It is thought strong winds were the cause of the incident, but an investigation is underway.

Austrian Window Cleaners Trapped Up Viennas Tallest Building

The window cleaners were left stranded when the platform they were working on slipped nearly 90 degrees. They were working on DC Tower 1 in Vienna, Austria - the country's tallest skyscraper.

Window cleaners dangle on side of 250m building: These terrifying images show the moments after a window-cleaning cradle on Austria's tallest building suddenly slipped, leaving two workers clinging on for their lives. Their precarious position could be seen for miles around, as one side of the platform fell to leave it at a near-45-degree angle. The two men had been cleaning windows on the 48th floor of the Donau City Tower in Vienna, and ended up dangling at more than 470ft (144m). The incident was unsurprisingly witnessed by a number of people passing by down below, and according to local news reports around 30 firefighters responded on the scene.

Left hanging: A close-up view of the platform appears to show one of the workers, dressed in a bright jacket, clinging on to the raised side It is not known how long the pair were left stranded before being rescued.

Though their work was hampered by strong winds, fire crews were able to lower extra cables to ensure the cradle did not drop any further, and the men were eventually let in through a ventilation shaft. Precisely how long the men were left trapped in the cradle remains unclear, and though they escaped unharmed one was treated for shock. The 60-floor, 820-ft (250-m) building they were working on was completed last year overlooking the Danube in one of the city's main urban business hubs. It is officially called DC Tower 1 - with construction now underway on DC Tower 2 on a site nearby. 

The glass-fronted DC Tower is 820 feet high and was only completed last year. The skyscraper has a distinctive design and has windows on one side designed to look like a wave. A second DC Tower is under construction.

Window Cleaners Get Stuck Over The Weekend

Window cleaners stuck half way up the Centre North East building in Middlesbrough. Click to enlarge.

Window cleaners get stuck half way up the tallest building in Middlesbrough: A pair of window cleaners became an unlikely centre of attention when they got stuck half way up the tallest building in Middlesbrough. The two men were working at Centre North East on Saturday when their cage lift got stuck on the ninth floor. A rescue mission to save the pair and get them to safety was then launched by fire crews.

Window cleaners stuck on a swinging scaffold at Centre North East in Middlesbrough. Click to enlarge.

Crowds gathered to watch the drama unfold, which happened at about 11.50am. Fire crews set up a cordon around the 240ft, 17-storey building while the incident was ongoing for public safety reasons. This closed off a section of Albert Road. Four fire appliances, including a platform from Middlesbrough and the emergency tender from Coulby Newham, attended. A specialist line rescue crew also at the scene attached harnesses to the men.

The 17-storey high office block is 240ft high. Click to enlarge.

The men were eventually rescued at about 2.30pm after a expert glaziers removed a window from the building so they men could climb to safety. Michael Smith, watch manager at Middlesbrough fire station, said: “We had our platform at the scene but that could only reach to the eight floor and the men were up on the ninth.” It took about two hours for the window to be removed. It shattered while the glaziers were working on the glass. The window had been in for that many years that it was solid so it took some time to get it out”, said Mr Smith. He added both men were fine following their ordeal.

The men were rescued at 2:20pm after being stuck on a cradle for around two and a half hours. Click to enlarge.

Cherry Picker Rescue For Window Cleaner

A window cleaner from firm Reflekt Cleaning Ltd had been cleaning windows of a top floor flat in a block on the street when his cherry picker cradle became wedged against the building.

Window cleaner rescued after getting stuck on top of cherry picker: Man was working on the windows of a top-floor flat on Ducie Street in Manchester city centre when his cherry picker cradle became wedged against the building.

A city centre street has had to be closed after a window cleaner's crane became jammed against a building, causing it to lift off two wheels. The drama started on Ducie Street, next to Piccadilly Station in Manchester around 11.45am this morning. A window cleaner from firm Reflekt Cleaning Ltd had been cleaning windows of a top floor flat in a block on the street when his cherry picker cradle became wedged against the building.

The window cleaner was then stranded around 25ft in the air when the machine's hydraulics cut out.

As the machine tried to pull back the force caused two wheels to lift around eight inches off the ground, leaving it balancing on two wheels in the middle of the street between the flats and an office block. The window cleaner was then stranded around 25ft in the air when the machine's hydraulics cut out. A fire crew were called with their own specialist crane and cherry-picker, which was raised to allow the window cleaner to jump across from his own machine. A specialist engineering and haulage company were also brought in, with chocks wedged underneath the crain's wheels to stabilise it. Police also closed off most of Ducie Street and said the road would remain closed for most of the afternoon.

Simon Carter, 45, who lives in Ancoats, was walking back from Piccadilly Station when he saw the drama unfold. He said: "I saw the fire crews put their cherry picker up and then the window cleaner jumped across. "I think he had been trying to bring the crane down from the top floor when it got stuck - it looks like it's jammed in the metal part at the top one of the windows. "He didn't look injured at all but he must be pretty embarrassed.

"John Bowler, a foreman from specialist haulage company TW Bowler who were brought in to remove the crane, said: "The machine is stuck against the building, and that's made the hydraulics cut out. "We've got chocks under the wheels and we're just waiting for the engineers from the company who made the cherry picker to arrive. "Then hopefully we can get the hydraulics back on and get it moved."

Blood Money For Window Cleaners

A bright yellow hard hat is among the remnants of the broken platform that killed two window cleaners.

One of the workers is reported to have died at the scene while the other was dead on arrival at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City.

Payout for families of window cleaners who plunged to their deaths: The relatives of two men who plunged to their deaths are likely to get Dhs86,000 (approx $23,5K) in compensation as well as any blood money awarded by court, a person close to the case has said. The men had made frantic calls for help to a security guard in the Commercial Bank of Dubai building - on the corner of Muroor Road and the Abu Dhabi Corniche - when the cradle they were working in stalled and would not move up or down. Before help could get to them, the cradle crashed 15 floors to the ground. The men, both from Andhra Pradesh in south east India, earned Dhs1,000 a month and a person investigating the accident said their families would receive the equivalent of three years’ salary from their employers - Modern Building Maintenance, (MBM).

It is understood a lifting mechanism on the workers’ scaffolding platform failed.

The men’s relatives are also likely to receive Dhs50,000 from the company’s welfare fund, but this has not been confirmed. Abu Dhabi courts may also insist on an additional blood money payment, although a dispute about who should pay this has already broken out between MBM and a subcontracted service company that maintains the wires and cradle. MBM blames the company for not providing a safe cradle for the men to work in, a claim the service company rejects. Captain Abdullah Al Tamimi from Abu Dhabi Civil Defence said yesterday that they were still investigating the cause of Tuesday’s incident but initial reports show that the wires holding the cradle had snapped. One of the window cleaners was married in India just three months ago and had only came back to work with the company in the past two weeks.

Abu Dhabi cleaners trapped for four hours before plunging to death: Two window cleaners were trapped on a maintenance cradle 15 floors above Khalifa Street for four hours before it collapsed, killing them both. A technician was called to the scene on Tuesday morning when the motor controlling the cradle malfunctioned. The two men plunged to the ground about 3pm when the metal cradle cords gave way at roof level. Their employer "should have called Civil Defence when they called the technician and recognised there was a problem. Those men should never have been up there so long," municipality health and safety chief Abdulaziz Zurub said. Police said the incident had been referred to the courts.

Mr Zurub said cleaning companies usually rent their cradles from maintenance companies. The municipality's health and safety department set up a special section to oversee maintenance companies but it is still under development. "The problem is how to ensure the cleaning company selects a maintenance company that uses the safety equipment according to our procedures," Mr Zurub said. The cleaners' employer, Modern Building Maintenance, said the men were harnessed but could not say if they were harnessed independently to the building. This lifeline is required so that if the cradle falls, the men do not. When the safety system is intact, cradles can hang from one rope. Various bodies are responsible for cradle maintenance and operation. 

The cradle was provided by the building owner, and the cleaners' employer said it did not know when it was last inspected. Abu Dhabi Municipality approves third-party companies who provide certifications of inspection on equipment for maintenance companies. The equipment must be checked every six months or annually, depending on its type. Cradle makers recommend inspections every three months. "It's like maintaining your car," said Theo Van Der Linde, the operations manager for Cox Gomyl, an international building maintenance company in Abu Dhabi. "If you don't maintain your car you'll have problems. If you maintain your equipment properly then it will last longer and it's safer."

The deaths come a week after two window cleaners had to be rescued when the rope supporting their platform snapped while they were working outside the 15th floor of a building in the capital. Police and Civil Defence secured the platform, at a building on Salam Street, before helping the two Asian men to safety down a rescue ladder. More such accidents are inevitable with the construction of more high-rise buildings unless maintenance companies are controlled and security measures enforced, manufacturers and inspectors said. "When the regulations and rules are not enforced it can increase the accident rate," said Elumalai Jagadeesan, the operations manager for Bureau Veritas, a company that carries out cradle inspections in Abu Dhabi. "There are many companies that are not being approved by Abu Dhabi Municipality. A qualified, competent person must inspect and do the certification." Other companies avoid maintenance entirely, he said. "It could be a monetary thing, it could be that people don't have the money to do it."

The municipality will fully oversee maintenance companies "very, very soon", Mr Zurub said. "I think that would be a good thing, to ensure that the maintenance companies are competent to do what they need to do," said Mr Van Der Linde. "You have people servicing the building maintenance units who are not specialists. "Preventive maintenance is very important and I think much more care could be taken by selecting the companies that do the maintenance." The government should revisit regulations annually, Mr Jagadeesan said. "Every year new technology and new solutions are coming into the market," he said. "The biggest priority, above anything else, is human life."

2 Die As Scaffold Drops 15 Floors In Abu Dhabi

Civil defence units struggled to pull the two out of the scaffold but they died minutes later.

Window cleaners plunge to death in Abu Dhabi. The scaffold they were using to clean the glass of tower snapped: Two Asian workers were killed after the scaffold they were using to clean the glass of a tower in Abu Dhabi snapped at the 15th level and plunged down to the ground. Police and civil defence units who rushed to the building on Khalifa Street in the town centre struggled to pull the two out of the scaffold but they died minutes later. Emarat Al Youm Arabic language daily quoted a civil defence official as saying they would join hands with the police to investigate the cause of the accident. It was the second scaffold accident in the capital in nearly a week but the two workers in the first incident were rescued by the civil defence. “Cleaning companies should regularly maintain their scaffolds to prevent such serious accidents,” said Captain Abdullah al Tamimi, director of the customers service and public relations section at the civil defence department.

Two cleaning workers fall to death in Capital: Two Indian workers plunged to death after the suspended platform from where they were cleaning the windows of a tower in the capital crashed to the ground on Tuesday. According to eyewitnesses and the building management, the accident happened as the duo were cleaning the windows on the 15th floor. The cradle crashed just around 3.20pm. Both the workers died on the spot with the platform completely smashed. Their bodies were cut into pieces by platform metals and due to the impact of the crash. Major Ismail Mohammad Saeed Al Shamsi, from the Operations Department at the Abu Dhabi General Directorate of Civil Defence, said primary information indicated that the incident occurred when the two workers were cleaning the facade of a high-rise tower and the suspended platform they were mounting suddenly fell down. As soon as the operations room was reported about the mishap, the civil defence engines and ambulance rushed to the accident site where the two cleaners were found breathing their last.

This is the second such incident to happen within a week. Last Monday, two Asian cleaners escaped death when they were rescued by the Abu Dhabi Police after one of the wires holding the suspended platform the two workers were standing on at the 15th floor of a building at Al Salam Street in Abu Dhbai got loosened. The 25-storey building, Baniyas Tower, is located in a prime location at the Corniche at the Muroor Road junction. “I was inside the building when the accident happened. I heard a sound but never realised it was the suspended platform that had crashed, and soon one of the cleaners came to me and told me about the accident,” said a staff member of the building management. He said he had immediately called the building management and reported the incident. Soon the police, civil defence and paramedical teams arrived and removed the bodies of the two workers in police ambulances.

He identified one of the window cleaners as Raj Kumar, an Indian aged between 26 and 27. “I know Raj Kumar. He has been cleaning the building for quite some time. The other worker who died was new and I don’t know him,” he told Khaleej Times. The fatal accident and the two fatalities have also been confirmed by the Abu Dhabi Police that is investigating the cause of the suspended platform falling to the ground. No officials from the cleaning company were available for the comment. An eyewitness from Bangladesh said: “I saw the cables of the suspended platform breaking. There was huge sound as the suspended platform landed on the ground on the Muroor Road side. It was horrible to see these two workers in blood.” Another nearby resident said: “When I heard the big bang, I rushed out from a nearby shop to check. Their bodies were beyond recognition and it was a terrifying scene to see.”

The broken maintenance cradle lying on the ground near the building on the corniche street in Abu Dhabi.

Two window cleaners fall from 10th floor: Police still investigating cause of accident that killed two window cleaners in Abu Dhabi. Police on Wednesday were  still investigating the cause of an accident that killed two Asian window cleaners. The cleaners died after they fell from the 15th floor of the Dubai Commercial Bank building located on Khalifa Street in Abu Dhabi when their scaffolding collapsed on Tuesday afternoon. A witness working at the café in the next building told Gulf News that the accident took place at approximately 3:20pm. Major Esmail Mohammad Saeed Al Shamsi, from the civil defense, said that the two men were trapped under the fallen platform where they died, as the defense team tried to rescue them. Al Shamsi said that upon receiving the news, Abu Dhabi police cars and ambulances were sent to the scene, along with the civil defense and security media.

First Lieutenant Abdullah Hamad Al Tamimi, head of the Customer Service Centre at the General Directorate of Civil Defence in Abu Dhabi, urged all those working in the construction and maintenance field to carry out regular checks on their equipment to make sure that these have not been subject to wear and tear. These safety measures must be taken in order to ensure the safety of their users and those surrounding keeping in mind that the Civil Defense carried out the Salamatak (your safety) campaign to raise workers awareness in the industrial sector, Al Tamimi said. Last week, two workers were rescued by the Abu Dhabi Police after the rope supporting their scaffolding snapped.