A window washer fell from an 11-story building on a moving car and survived the deadly accident.
The window washer, whose name has not been identified by the police, was getting ready to start cleaning the windows of the Sterling Bank and Trust building in San Francisco when he fell off the apparatus at around 10 am on Friday, Nov. 21 morning.
The building is located at 400 Montgomery Street, which is near the busy intersection with California Street. The worker fell on a green Toyota Camry, smashing the roof and leaving the rear windshield shattered.
Ed Del Carlo of the San Francisco Police revealed that Mohammad Alcozai, the driver of the Toyota Camry, was safe and escaped without any injuries but was taken aback by the loud thud and brought the car to an immediate halt.
"The driver didn't know what happened," says Del Carlo.
The worker suffered serious injuries including a broken hand but was conscious even after the fall. He was rushed to the San Francisco General Hospital and was in critical condition till late afternoon. A safety engineer was at the scene of the accident to establish the cause of the fall.
The intersection of California and Montgomery streets remained closed for several hours for police to do their investigation.
Sam Hartwell, an eye witness to the accident revealed that he was going to a meeting when he saw a blue streak from the corner of his eye. When the blue streak hit a car with a loud thud he realized it was a man. Hartwell, revealed that he and other bystanders were in a shock and did not know how to react. However, he rushed to the scene to help the victim.
Paramedics were prompt and they arrived at the accident scene within five minutes of the first call to 911 and the ambulance took about 10 minutes to arrive.
Reports suggest that the worker was employed by Century Window Cleaners of Concord. The window washing company does not have a clean record and in the past it was fined regarding safety issues. A complaint made in 2008 also resulted in a $2,700 settlement. The company was also ordered to supervise and train its workers for efficient use of equipment to avoid any accidents.
The latest accident comes around two weeks after two window cleaners were stuck on top of the World Trade Center in New York City following the collapse of scaffolding.
