NEWBURYPORT — Two workers were airlifted to Boston hospitals yesterday afternoon with serious injuries sustained when the scaffolding collapsed on a house they were renovating.
The accident occurred just before 1 p.m. at 25-27 Kent St. Although the men were still alive, police were withholding their identities until family members could be notified.
City Marshal Thomas Howard said one of the victims is a 48-year-old Newburyport resident and the other is believed to be a 37-year-old Haverhill resident. Howard said a "language barrier" was making it difficult to positively identify the Haverhill man.
Howard said there were no known eyewitnesses to the actual accident. Police received a cell phone 911 call at 12:58 p.m. reporting two men on the ground.
Officer Joshua Tierney and Inspector Brian Brunault were the first responders, arriving at the scene separately in a cruiser and an unmarked car.
They found both victims unconscious, one suffering from visible "massive head trauma," Howard said.
The men were stabilized on the sidewalk by firefighters and emergency medical technicians and then transported to Anna Jaques Hospital. They were transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Hospital in Boston by helicopter, Brunault said.
The two men were installing fascia board trim along the roof on the side of the house, Howard said. They were apparently on scaffolding between the house they were working on and the one next door at 29 Kent St.
Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were called in by local police and were at the scene yesterday afternoon.
"In a preliminary investigation, it appears that the bracing support on the Kent Street side of the house gave way," Howard said. "OSHA will have the final say in what happened."
There was a third worker on the roof, installing ice shields, Howard said. He heard a noise but did not see the men fall.
"It was just horrible," said Diana Flaherty of Newburyport, who was walking up Kent Street when came upon the scene in the immediate aftermath of the accident and called 911 on her cell phone.
The victims were part of a crew that has been doing extensive renovations on the house for several weeks.
The property changed hands for $150,000 in early November. The buyer was identified as Kentson 25 Realty Trust in Registry of Deeds records. The Newburyport assessor's office lists Thomas J. Williamson as trustee. Williamson is a masonry contractor with a Middleton-based business, who frequently does work in Newburyport.
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