MONTREAL — A Montreal window washer plunged to his death Tuesday after his platform gave way and crashed into the roof of a restaurant about 20 storeys below.
“We heard a big bang,” said waiter John Henry, who ran outside, heard cries for help from the washer’s co-workers and ran up onto the roof of the restaurant.
He saw the man was lying beside the broken platform, his body covered with a metal beam.
Henry, who says he has CPR training, checked for vital signs but couldn’t find a pulse.
“The guy was already dead,” he said.
Henry also said he couldn’t pump the man’s chest because of the debris covering his body.
The window washer’s two colleagues, who were standing on the roof of the restaurant when the man tumbled from the upper tower, were not injured but appeared to be in shock, Henry added.
A spokeswoman for the provincial health and safety board confirmed the man died in the accident.
Montreal police say they have ruled out foul play and the health and safety board has undertaken an investigation.