Window cleaner falls to death

Two blue suspension ropes swayed ominously in the breeze after a window washer plunged to his death from the top of a high-rise in downtown Montreal yesterday.

Police confirmed that a man in his 40s was tethered to an aluminum swing stage when it suddenly broke loose, falling from the 20th floor of the Blue Cross building at President Kennedy Ave. and Aylmer St.

John Henry was waiting tables at the Maison du Jazz restaurant when the 20-foot scaffold fell about 1:15 p.m.

‘We heard a big boom on the roof,’ Henry said. ‘I took a course for first responders, so I climbed up to see what happened.’

Henry found the man on the roof of the restaurant. His legs were crushed under an orange steel beam that had fallen along with the window-washing platform. Henry checked the man's pulse, only to discover that he was dead.

The victim's two co-workers were calling for help from the top of the Blue Cross building, so Henry went up to attend to them.

‘They were suffering from shock,’ he said. ‘They were shaking and grabbing their heads.’

The two workers were later taken to hospital and treated for shock.

The three washers were reportedly working for Mon laveur de vitre, Inc. The company could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Another witness, Mark Crispino, spoke to the washers the day before the accident.

‘Just yesterday I asked them for a business card because I need window washing at home,’ he said. ‘I asked if accidents ever happened. They said nothing serious ever happens.’

Frederick Amoako, a maintenance man in the Blue Cross building, was standing in the adjacent parking lot when the accident happened.

‘I heard the noise - bap! - and he's dead,’ Amoako said, adding that he ran in fear when he heard the noise.

‘One of those guys just asked me for a smoke this morning.’

It's not yet clear why the scaffold fell. The CSST is investigating and will have more details today, spokesperson Alexandra Reny said.

Simon Dupuis of Montreal-based Services MRO window cleaning said most accidents happen because of high winds.

‘Especially downtown, there's a lot of gusts,’ he said, recalling a 2008 incident when two Montreal window washers smashed through the glass they were cleaning to escape when wind tossed their swing stage around.

He also said the anchors that hold swing stages can be a source of trouble, and must be inspected annually.

No comments to display