Work accident 600 people attend memorial service after scaffolding collapse in Prilly VD
Flowers were laid and candles lit.
Image: Keystone
Numerous construction workers took part in the memorial service.
Image: Keystone
Alain Gilliéron, the mayor of Prilly VD, spoke at the memorial service.
Image: Keystone
Flowers were laid and candles lit.
Image: Keystone
Numerous construction workers took part in the memorial service.
Image: Keystone
Alain Gilliéron, the mayor of Prilly VD, spoke at the memorial service.
Image: Keystone
Around 600 people took part in a memorial service on Monday morning following the collapse of scaffolding in Prilly VD, which left three dead and eight injured. Numerous construction workers also attended the ceremony.
The mayor of Prilly, Allain Gillieron, spoke at the ceremony on the forecourt of the Vaudoise Arena, which is located next to the site of the accident. "The Malley Phare tower should have illuminated us (...) but it has darkened our presence and left many of us and you in mourning," said Gillieron.
The accident occurred on Friday morning in the Malley district in the west of Lausanne, when scaffolding around 60 meters high collapsed for unknown reasons. The workers were building a 19-storey wooden residential tower called "Phare", meaning "lighthouse", in which 96 apartments are to be built. The accident caused great consternation in the region and beyond.
The cause of the accident was initially unclear. A public prosecutor from the special cases department launched an investigation. According to several witnesses and workers, a freight elevator that may have been too heavily loaded came loose and pulled the scaffolding down with it.
Safety work still underway
The stores in the "Malley Lumières" shopping center remained closed on Monday and the area was still cordoned off. Work to secure and stabilize the scaffolding on the other three facades of the tower continued during the day.
"As long as the facades are not secured, we cannot reopen the site as there is a risk of collapse," Jean-Christophe Sauterel, spokesman for the Vaud cantonal police, told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
At the same time, the clean-up work continued. Particular care must be taken here. "We must be aware that the remains of the collapsed scaffolding constitute evidence that will be preserved for the purpose of the investigation," explained Sauterel.
However, both the evacuation and securing work should be completed during Tuesday, he added.
