DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Rescue crews airlifted two workers to the hospital after they fell through the roof of a building in Doral.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews responded to the warehouse where the incident happened in the area of Northwest 97th Avenue and 13th Street, just after 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.
7SkyForce HD flew over the scene where a hole could be seen in the roof.
The two workers had been working on the roof when, officials said, a portion gave out from underneath them, sending them plummeting about 30 feet.
“Based on the distance of the fall, of course they were trauma alerted,” said Miller.
Liznell Gascot, the sister of one of the workers, said she came to the hospital as soon as she heard about the fall.
“I got a phone call from the hospital saying that my brother was in the trauma center,” she said.
The concerned sibling identified her brother as Felix Gascot.
The owner of Best Roofing Services, the company that the victims work for, said they had been working on this project for quite some time. One of the last steps was to cut a small hole to move the AC unit.
“The area of the decking came loose. It’s an old roof that was being replaced,” said Best Roofing owner Greg Walluck. “This was our last day on the job, so we were hoping to wrap things up today.”
Photos shared with 7News show first responders treating one of the workers at the scene.
“Luckily, in this case, the workers were not entrapped in any way. We were able to reduce the assignment to just a few units,” said MDFR Lt. Kristen Miller.
Crews airlifted the two workers to Ryder Trauma Center.
“They’re stabilized. Both of them are coherent. They’re able to speak to the doctors,” said Walluck.
Both of the patients are listed in serious but stable condition.
“There might be some broken bones. A fall like that is going to have some problems,” said Walluck.
“He has ribs fractured. They have him intubated right now,” said Liznell, “so we’re just waiting for the doctors to do another CT [scan] to see if they have to do any other procedures.”
Meanwhile, the victims’ families said all they can do now is support, love and pray for the best.
“They just want us to all keep their family members in prayer and just pray for their recovery,” said Walluck.
“His wife, his kids, we all love him very much,” said Liznell.
The building where the men fell belongs to a food distribution wholesaler.
Engineers and investigators are attempting to determine what caused the partial collapse.
Felix Gascot’s family has set up a GoFundMe page for him. If you would like to make a donation, click here.
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