Indonesian worker dies in NTUH scaffolding collapse

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) An Indonesian migrant worker was found dead early Tuesday morning after the scaffolding for a National Taiwan University Hospital renovation project collapsed Monday and trapped him in the debris, the Taipei City government said.

The Indonesian national was working on the scaffolding in front of NTU hospital's East Campus when it collapsed and landed on a car Monday morning.

No casualties were initially reported but a 49-year-old Indonesian male migrant worker was later said to be missing and possibly trapped at the scene.

After an overnight search, the migrant worker was found dead early Tuesday morning, trapped in the collapsed scaffolding, according to the city government.

City officials said rescue workers were unable initially to get into the pile of debris to search for victims because of the sheer volume of materials that had fallen and instead had to wait for the construction unit to remove the pile of scaffolding manually.

The removal operation continued until nearly 3 a.m. Tuesday when the migrant worker was found dead on the third floor of the scaffolding, where he was trapped and crushed by debris, the city government said.

The city's Labor Inspection Office under the Department of Labor said the accident was likely caused by the construction company piling construction materials on the scaffolding and exceeding its weight load limit.

The office said it will look into whether the worker's employer and relevant on-site personnel should be held criminally liable for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act.