A 59-year-old air-conditioning worker died on Saturday after falling from a high-rise flat of a residential building in Zape while he was working on a compressor, according to a statement by the Judiciary Police (PJ).
The fall happened at a building at the junction of Alameda Dr Carlos d’Assumpção and Avenida Dr Rodrigo Rodrigues at about noon on Saturday, when Public Security Police (PSP) and Fire Services Bureau (CB) officers responding to the accident found a man lying on the roadway outside the entrance to a carpark of Alameda Dr Carlos d’Assumpção, confirming his death.
The PJ statement identified the victim as a male non-resident worker (NRW) from the mainland, whose safety rope fastened to an AC bracket on the external wall of the flat broke during the replacement of the air-conditioner, causing him and the compressor to fall to the ground, where he died on the spot.
According to the statement, the injuries sustained by the victim were consistent with a fall from a height and no other suspicious injuries were found, but the exact cause of death still needed to be confirmed by forensic examination.
The Judiciary Police have initially classified the incident as a dead-body-found case.
In response to the accident, the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) said in a statement that it expressed its “grave” concern and “deepest” condolences to the victim’s family, adding that it will assist the family in following up on the claim for compensation for the work accident.
The DSAL statement underlined that it has been making efforts to enhance the sector’s awareness of working at height through different channels and means, such as providing occupational safety and health guidelines for the installation, maintenance and cleaning of air-conditioners with mobile fall arrest equipment, while also launching campaigns on promoting the use of seat belts, fall arresters and individual lifelines, in addition to regularly organising training courses and seminars.
Public Security Police (PSP) officers investigate on Saturday the fatal fall of an AC worker on Alameda Dr Carlos d’Assumpção earlier that day. – Photo: MPDG
