Three workers were killed and two injured after scaffolding at a construction site collapsed in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽), the New Taipei City Fire Department said yesterday.
The incident occurred at about 1pm, when the three-story-high scaffolding collapsed for an unknown reason, the department said.
The construction is part of an elevated section of the MRT metro rail’s Sanying Line.
Photo: Weng Yu-huang, Taipei Times
One of the workers who died in the collapse was from Thailand, while the other two were Taiwanese, the New Taipei City Labor Affairs Department said.
The two injured workers — one Taiwanese and one Thai — had leg fractures, the fire department said, adding that the Ministry of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration would investigate.
All work at the site has been suspended pending an investigation to determine the cause of the accident, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said.
Construction on the Sanying Line is difficult, because it involves many elevated sections over rivers and highways, he said.
The city government would do everything in its power help the injured, while all necessary assistance would be provided to the families of the three men who died in the collapse, he added.
An initial investigation found the cause of the accident to be loose fasteners on a horizontal section of the scaffolding, Occupational Safety and Health Administration head Chiang Tsung-lung (江宗龍) said.
Contractor RSEA Engineering Corp (榮工工程) could face a fine of up to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), if found responsible, he said.
Additional reporting by Weng Yu-huang
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