Construction worker dies after falling 53 stories from Los Angeles high-rise

(Image credit: Twitter.com/LABJNews)

last updated 18 March 2016

On Thursday, a construction worker died after falling from the 53rd floor of the Wilshire Grand Center in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles.

The unidentified man apparently hit the back of a car as it drove down the street, and a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department said the woman inside the vehicle was not injured. A Cal/OSHA spokeswoman said the man was an electrician, and the worksite will be closed for two days so OSHA can conduct an investigation. Officials did not say if the man was wearing a safety harness. The 53rd floor does not have any windows, the Los Angeles Times reports, but does have an 8-foot-high "integrity fence," a metal barrier that is supposed to keep people and items from falling out. This was the first serious injury to take place at the site during construction.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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