Officials confirm one fatality at the Oakridge Park construction site Wednesday (Feb. 21). A worker was killed when a load fell from a crane.
Matthew Trudeau with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) confirmed the fatality hours after the load fell Wednesday afternoon, hitting several floors of the unfinished multi-storey building.
He could not confirm what the load contained but says it struck the floors about 25 storeys up.
Trudeau says about 1,700 workers were evacuated from the site near Oakridge Mall.
Vancouver police shut down a section of Cambie Street in the immediate aftermath of what they initially called an "industrial incident" at the construction site.
Four blocks in the immediate area were closed, according to a tweet from the VPD, stretching between West 41st Avenue and West 45th Avenue.
"VFRS is on scene with multiple agencies for a crane incident at Oakridge Mall," stated police.
B.C. Coroners Service and WorkSafeBC also attended the scene.
Cambie Street was closed for several hours.
A joint statement from David Eby and Harry Bains said: "Every worker deserves to return home safely at the end of the day and this incident is a stark reminder of the importance of workplace safety."
With files from the Canadian Press
