By Matt Kyle | Staff Writer
The two workers injured in the construction accident at the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center Wednesday morning have been released from the hospital, according to Lt. Keith Guillory of the Waco Fire Department.
Guillory said he doesn’t know the exact details of the injuries, but the two workers were treated for their injuries, and they were released from Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center the same day they were admitted. No other injuries were reported.
Guillory said the fire department received a report of a structure collapse and two traumatic injuries at the Welcome Center at 9:26 a.m. Wednesday and was on the scene by 9:29 a.m. Due to the nature of the call as a partial building collapse, Guillory said the fire department had a full response of two trucks, five fire engines and two battalion chiefs.
According to the fire department’s incident report, several support beams had popped out of their “welds and/or their rivets” and about five beams had fallen to the ground. The report said the workers were standing on the beams and fell approximately 35 feet after the support beams became loose and popped out of their sockets.
Several other support beams were reported to be loose.
While the fire department had a full response to the call, Guillory said the workers were not trapped in the fall, and thus the full amount of resources was not used.
“They were very fortunate,” Guillory said. “The collapse happened; they fell over and fell into a void space. So both of them were actually easily accessible. No entrapments as far as the workers; we had complete access to them.”
Baylor released a statement the same day of the accident and said an investigation into the collapse is currently underway.
“The accident affects every member of the Baylor community, and our prayers go immediately to the two individuals who were injured, as well as their family, friends and co-workers,” the statement read. “We are deeply appreciative of the rapid response of Baylor University Police Department, Waco Fire and AMR. The university is actively supporting the agencies investigating the circumstances of the accident.”
