Injured worker lowered to ground at northeast Houston construction site
HOUSTON – A construction worker was rescued Tuesday morning after being injured in a fall at a construction site in northeast Houston. The worker was carefully lowered to the ground in a stretcher by a crane in a dramatic scene that unfolded at the new Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital expansion project.
The incident occurred just after 11 a.m. off the North Loop near Homestead Road. According to the Houston Fire Department, the worker fell approximately 10 to 40 feet, sustaining injuries that required a specialized rescue operation.
While the worker’s injuries were not immediately life-threatening, the location of the fall made a conventional rescue difficult, prompting the call for HFD’s technical rescue team. Firefighters secured the injured worker onto a stretcher, which was then attached to a crane on the site.
Aerial footage from the scene showed the worker being slowly and steadily lowered from an elevated section of the construction project to the ground below. Once safely on the ground, the worker, who appeared to be alert and conscious, was transferred to a waiting ambulance and transported to a nearby hospital.
The exact nature and extent of the worker’s injuries have not been released. The cause of the fall is also under investigation.
Officials on the scene praised the quick and professional response of the Houston Fire Department and the construction crew who assisted in the delicate rescue operation.
“This was a textbook technical rescue,” said HFD spokesperson [Spokesperson’s Name, if available]. “Our teams train for these types of scenarios, and their expertise, combined with the cooperation of the personnel on site, ensured a safe and successful outcome for the injured worker.”
Work at the construction site was temporarily halted in the area of the incident as the rescue took place. It is unclear when work will fully resume. The identity of the injured worker has not been made public.
