HÀ NỘI — Two people were killed and four others seriously injured when the scaffolding collapsed early on Thursday at a construction site in Hà Nội’s Hoàng Mai District.

Initial reports from local authority said the two victims were construction workers working at a private housing and trading complex, the Eco Green Tower, on Giáp Nhị Street of Thịnh Liệt Commune. One of the victims was a 53-year-old man from Hà Nội’s Thanh Oai District. The other was a woman, 28, from northern Hà Nam Province.

The incident occurred at about 5am when workers were transferring concrete for the floor of the sixth storey of the building.

The Hoàng Mai district police said they had sent a team to the area, adding that investigation had begun into the case.

Trần Văn Vinh, head of the Hoàng Mai District Inspectorate, said the district administration had ordered the construction site to be closed for investigation.

Earlier in August, a scaffolding collapse killed one person and injured seven others in Bình Định Province’s Quy Nhơn City.

The accident also occurred at the construction site of a private house.

Vietnamese people prefer building or remodeling homes near the end of the year, but lack of knowledge about labour safety and no protective equipment have resulted in deaths and disabilities of construction workers who fall from the scaffolding, experts have said.

The victims are generally farmers from rural Việt Nam who come to urban areas to work in their idle time. These seasonal construction workers gather in groups to sign labour contracts with building contractors. They work, therefore, only under a seasonal labour contract; the primary goal being to earn quick money, with minimum awareness of labour safety.

Even experienced construction workers, under pressure to work quickly and in the cold or rainy weather, are more likely to fall victim to scaffolding accidents in this season. — VNS