Three dead as scaffolding collapses in Switzerland

By AFP
July 13, 2024
Rescue workers and police working at the scene of a scaffolding collapse on the outskirts of Lausanne. — AFP/file
Rescue workers and police working at the scene of a scaffolding collapse on the outskirts of Lausanne. — AFP/file 

LAUSANNE: Three people were killed and eight injured on Friday when scaffolding collapsed off a 19-storey building under construction in the western Swiss city of Lausanne, police said.

The scaffolding collapsed shortly before 9:30 am (0730 GMT), falling “like a house of cards”, according to one witness.

The entire scaffolding structure on one side of the 60-metre (200-foot) tower came down, sending construction workers plummeting to the ground.

Regional police said around a dozen people were directly impacted by the accident in Prilly, on the outskirts of Lausanne, including the three construction workers who died.

Friday evening, police said they had identified the deceased as a 43-year-old Swiss man, a 35-year-old from Cape Verde and a 30-year-old Frenchman.

The men´s families had been informed and were receiving psychological support, the police statement said.