Woman hurt after hoarding collapse

Mar 1 2007 By Catherine Lillington, Birmingham Mail

A WOMAN was flattened as heavy hoarding surrounding a city centre development collapsed on top of her in the wind.

Jackie Ward, an inputter for the Birmingham Post & Mail, was walking past the Colmore Plaza building site in Colmore Circus when the 6ft tall wooden fence was blown off its support just before 2.30pm yesterday.

A motorbike paramedic on the scene within two minutes said she suffered facial, shoulder and ankle injuries in the freak accident.

A passer-by who witnessed the accident said: "The wind was blowing really hard and then a sudden gust lifted the hoarding off.

"I saw the woman virtually disappear underneath it within a split second. She managed to lift herself slightly but couldn't get out from underneath and seemed in a lot of pain.

"I was amazed to see she was still conscious after the force the hoarding hit her with."

Another passer-by said: "This has been an accident waiting to happen. Pedestrians have been pushed further and further towards the road."

A group of five site workers helped shore up the hoardings while the woman was given first aid. She was then taken in an ambulance to City Hospital.

A colleague of Jackie's said he had seen workers trying to support the fence during windy weather about a month ago.

He added: "All her work colleagues were shocked to hear what had happened. I've seen workers hanging onto that fence before for dear life. I'm surprised this hasn't happened before now."

A spokesman for the site said all the site managers were out at the scene of the accident and no comment could be made.

The Health and Safety Executive was today investigating the accident.

A week earlier nearly 90 buildings were plunged into darkness after a major power cable was damaged on the site.