A construction worker has died after being trapped under a five-ton concrete slab for seven hours after an eighth-floor balcony collapsed in Jersey Shore. Jose Pereira, who worked for Ferugson Constructing Inc in Philadelphia, was trapped under a collapsed eighth-floor balcony weighing 11,000 pounds.
The 43-year-old was pronounced dead around 10pm Friday by a Cape May forensic nurse after being pinned down at 2.30pm.
Witness Joye Fiocchi told CBS News, “Just utter chaos. Just screaming people. I immediately called 911.
“And it’s only 20 minutes later, I heard him scream again. I think he said get it off me, and I never heard anything [after].”
READ MORE: Biden claims the document debacle is “fundamentally different” from Trump’s
Eric Hupperich was on a break when he felt the collapse “through our bodies.”
He said, “It was a very, very loud bang.”
Police had tried to rescue Pereira but were unable to reach him due to “significant cracks” and the building was deemed “unsafe”.
Rescue teams reached Pereira after bringing in more equipment to stabilize the seventh-floor balcony.
They had to cut through 12 inches of reinforced concrete.
Residents of the building were evacuated and will not be allowed back in until private engineers have carried out inspections.
Follow our social media accounts here facebook.com/ExpressUSNews