Window Washer Falls To Death In Manhattan

Anthony Ventura, 29, tripped and fell to his death from this elevator lift while cleaning a Park Ave. South building.

Window washer falls to his death in Gramercy: The victim, identified as Anthony Ventura, tripped and fell four stories while cleaning a Park Ave. South building. A 29-year-old window washer died Thursday when he tripped and fell four stories from an elevated scissor-lift, cops said.

The victim, identified by law enforcement sources as Anthony Ventura, fell from a Park Ave. South building he was cleaning near E. 25th St. in Gramercy at about noon and died at Bellevue Hospital.

He was wearing a safety harness, but it wasn’t secured to the lift, police sources said.

Anthony Ventura, 29, lost his footing while standing on the outside ledge of a Park Avenue building between 25th and 26th streets at around 11:40 a.m. and landed on the concrete below, sources said. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in cardiac arrest and later died. Police sources said Ventura had a harness but was not wearing it when he fell.

Window Washer Falls to His Death in Gramercy, Officials Say: A window washer working on the ledge without a harness slipped and fell to his death Thursday morning, officials said. The worker, who police did not identify, but said was in his 20s, fell from 345 Park Ave. S., near East 25th Street, about 11:40 a.m., the NYPD and FDNY said. It was not clear how far he fell.

He was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital, police said. Friends and loved ones gathered in the hospital waiting room grieving his death, but were too distraught to speak. Police were investigating the incident, a spokeswoman said. The Department of Buildings was also investigating the incident, but referred questions to the state's Department of Labor, which had no further information. The 12-story office and retail building is managed by RFR Realty. A company representative did not immediately respond to a call.

The deceased climbed out of the platform onto the ledge and then slipped and fell.

A window cleaner fell to his death in midtown Manhattan yesterday, after he had climbed out of the boom lift he was using onto a ledge. Police would not confirm how far he fell, but the first ledge is around nine or 10 metres high. The man, 29, was using a 66ft JLG 660SJ but had left the safety of the platform and had not attached his lanyard to anything. The incident occurred outside of the Bank of America on Park Avenue just north of 26th Street around midday local time. The man was rushed to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

Vertikal Comment: We receive regular Death Wish contributions showing window cleaners on ledges, they usually get away with it, but as this incident demonstrates all it needs is a slip or a trip to turn into another statistic. Sadly in this case the man was provided with an ideal piece of equipment, yet he clearly felt that he needed to get closer to the glass.
 

One wonders what sort of training he may have received, did he lack the confidence to take such a big platform too close to the large windows and ornamental stonework? We will probably never know quite why he chose to climb onto the ledge.
 

The end result is a tragedy for dozens of people, ranging from the immediate and extended family to friends and co-workers, and even for those working for the rental company that owns the boom lift he was using.
 

Hopefully this will provide a warning to others who are tempted from time to time to climb out of the platform? At least then a little good will come out of this sad and avoidable death of a young man in the prime of his life.

Window Cleaner Falls To His Death At The Corinthia

The window-cleaner died when his gondola fell from the 11th floor onto roof of the foyer. Click to enlarge.

Window-cleaner falls to his death at the Corinthia (Libya): A tragic accident has claimed the life of an Egyptian window cleaner at Tripoli’s Corinthia Hotel. He  died after his gondola came crashing down from the 11th floor onto the roof of the hotel foyer. The 34 year-old man, named only as “F.A.” was apparently still alive after the accident which happened on Sunday. Guests have reported that it took some 40 minutes for him to be rescued.

The Old Town police station has filed a report to say that the man, reported as a member of the hotel’s cleaning staff, was pronounced dead before he arrived at Tripoli Medical Centre on Sunday. The impact was so severe that the gondola broke through part of the roof, and dust and debris fell into the foyer of the five-star hotel. A number of guests initially thought that there had been an explosion. It is not yet clear what exactly happened.

The damage made by the impact, with the gondola lying close by. Click to super-size.

The Director of Operations at the Corinthia, Lorraine Radford, told the Libya Herald today that she was unable to comment on the tragedy. The Libya Herald tried to contact the director of public relations for Corinthia Hotels but has not had a response. The police report said that an investigation had been launched. One guest told the Libya Herald that he had been told that arrests had already been made. “This is very serious,” he said, “because somebody died.” Although the interior ceiling of the lobby has been repaired, the damaged roof and broken gondola today remained on the roof.

The Corinthia Hotel Tripoli is a luxury hotel in Tripoli, offering refined hospitality and pampering luxury in the capital of Libya.

Window cleaner dies in Corinthia Tripoli fall: A 34-year-old Egyptian window-cleaner has died while working at the Corinthia Hotel Tripoli, Libyan media reported today. The incident happened on Sunday when the gondola he was standing in collapsed and crashed from the 11th floor to the roof of the hotel's foyer, the Libya Herald reported. He died on his way to hospital.

Shanghai Window Washers Killed In Accidental Fall

Two Shanghai window washers killed in accidental fall (Warning: Graphic images): Around 1:40pm this afternoon two window washers working outside the Pacific Business Center on Yan'an Road were killed when they fell from an unknown height onto a car parked below. Witnesses told reporters that they heard a loud band and then found the men lying on the ground -- their broken rope hanging from the 26 story building they were working on. Immediately after the fall, one of the men was reportedly showing signs of life, while the other appeared to be in extremely critical condition. However, both men soon perished at the scene before they were able to be treated. Our sentiments go out to those who work in such a treacherous environment.

Two window cleaners fell to their death from the 22nd floor of a downtown high-rise this afternoon when as a rope attached to their bodies suddenly snapped as they were cleaning the building's facade.

Witnesses said the accident happened around 1:40pm at a building at 889 Yan'an Road. They heard a bang and saw two workers lying on the ground. The workers first landed on a white car, then bounced off, leaving a depression on the car, witnesses said. The building's management company said they hired the two workers to clean the outer walls. There were four cleaners working on the building when the tragedy occurred.

Update: Two window cleaners working 22 floors up a high-rise plunged to their deaths yesterday, after a safety rope appeared to snap. The accident happened in heavy rain around 1:40pm at the Pacific Center at the crossing of Yan'an and Jiangsu roads in downtown Changing District.  Afterward, a rope that had secured the window cleaners could be seen, apparently snapped, hanging from the exterior of the building. Witnesses say they heard loud crashes and when they looked round they saw the two men lying on the ground. "I heard a bang as I was preparing to go out," said a resident living next to the office complex.

The workers fell from the 22nd floor while cleaning the exterior glass, police said. A car parked beneath the office building was damaged in the fall. The men were pronounced dead at the scene, their safety helmets, gloves and buckets scattered around their bodies. The bodies were not removed until around 4pm, as the police took photographs of the scene. Four workers had been cleaning the exterior glass on the 26-story building at the time of the incident, said witnesses.

The building's property management department said the team was hired to clean the exterior every four months. According to witnesses, one worker began to fall after his support rope snapped, taking with him a colleague he was linked to by a safety rope. "If it's true, then it was against all the rules, as workers should not be linked together," said a former window cleaner, surnamed Zhao, who worked in the business for six years. Zhao said each two-man team should be equipped with three ropes, with both workers hooking onto the middle one by a device called a latching lock, in addition to having their own safety ropes. "The lock will hold the workers even if one rope breaks," said Zhao. "They would just hang in the air instead of crashing to the ground." City work safety authorities said late yesterday that they were still investigating.