Workers dangle from cables after partial building collapse

OAKLAND, Calif. – Scaffolding and wet concrete gave way at a building site in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, leaving construction workers dangling from metal cables and rebar and injuring at least 19 people, officials said.

The partial collapse occurred after workers had laid down what appeared to be a concrete second floor for a building under construction in Oakland.

Video taken by a worker in the seconds after the collapse and obtained by local television station KGO showed at least three workers in hardhats and yellow and orange vests in midair, clinging to metal cables and rods to keep from falling.

Colleagues scrambled with ladders and lumber to help them climb down. Other workers pulled themselves and each other out of thick, wet concrete.

Authorities described the injuries as mostly minor, including cuts and bruises. Emergency crews transported the injured to three local hospitals, said Clayton Warren, a spokesman at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known, and California work-safety officials were investigating.