Workplace Accident Rocks Cartagena Construction Zone, Worker Crushed As Concrete Slab Falls

Cartagena, Colombia— One construction worker was killed Saturday morning when a section of scaffolding gave way and a concrete slab fell six floors onto workers pouring a column at a high-rise site in the Bocagrande district of Cartagena. The collapse happened at 9:40 a.m.

The victim, a 34-year-old helper from Turbaco, was working on the fourth floor of a 22-story residential tower. Witnesses said the scaffolding, held by rusted clamps, swayed, then dropped. The slab followed. Two other workers jumped. One suffered a broken leg. The dead worker was pinned under the debris for 25 minutes before firefighters could cut through the rebar.

“It was loud, like a truck dumping rocks,” said a mason who was on the third floor. “We shouted to get out. Dust everywhere. When it cleared, he was gone.” He said the crew had complained about the scaffolding three days earlier. The foreman told them to keep working. The construction company, Edificadora Caribe S.A.S., did not respond to calls Saturday.

Cartagena’s building boom runs on cheap labor and thin inspections. Bocagrande alone has 14 towers under construction. Safety gear is spotty. Helmets yes, harnesses no. The Ministry of Labor said the site had no updated safety certificate. Its last inspection was in March. It passed with warnings. Those warnings were not fixed.

An inspector from the ministry arrived at 11 a.m. and ordered an immediate suspension. He found anchor points missing, wooden planks cracked, and no safety nets below the work area. “This was predictable. The conditions were not acceptable,” he told reporters outside the gate. He declined to say why no follow-up inspection was done after March.

The victim’s family arrived at noon. They were not allowed inside. His brother said he had worked 12-hour shifts, six days a week, for 1.2 million pesos a month. No life insurance. He had a daughter. The family was told to go to the Labor Ministry to file a claim.

The company’s lawyer appeared briefly, said the company “lamented the incident,” and left. No further statement was issued. Workers were sent home without pay for the day.

The District labor office opened a formal investigation. The body was taken to Medicina Legal.

The site is sealed. Work will not resume until a new inspection.