A 10-storey building has partially collapsed at a demolition site in Sydney's west, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of office workers and residents.
The building fell on an excavator just after 3pm on Wednesday, which is now standing the building.
A worker is in the cab of the excavator. He is safe and can get out, but has been told to stay put due to the structural integrity of the building, Fire Rescue NSW said.
'Areas started to collapse, which also caused problems with the scaffolding. There is a risk of it collapsing onto public roads or injuring people or actually endangering it,” FRNSW Chief Inspector Josh Turner said.
'The excavator has been positioned to actually support the building and the scaffolding… It's there as a precaution when it starts moving so it can take some of the load.'
Mr Turner said the man is not at risk of injury. “It's a locked cabin…”
“Ideally, it's not where buildings are collapsing, but it does have a level of protection around it.”
The building reportedly became unstable during the demolition process, causing it to collapse and take away scaffolding.
The 10-storey building fell on an excavator just after 3pm on Wednesday, which is now uprighting the building.
A worker is in the cab of the excavator. He is safe and can get out, but has been told to stay put due to the structural integrity of the building
“Specialist rescue crews are in place, including our heavy rescues,” Fire and Rescue NSW Acting Chief Inspector Mat Sigmund said.
“We are assessing the situation and calling in engineers and experts… It will be an ongoing incident.”
NSW Police are also at the scene.
Work is underway to manage the fallen parts of the building.
More to come…
