A construction accident at the Presbyterian Rust Medical Center (PRMC) in Rio Rancho on 18 August, resulted in one death and seven injuries, including three potentially-life-threatening injuries, local news sources reported.

Twenty-one feet of scaffolding had buckled and collapsed in the afternoon, Clay Holderman from the Presbyterian Deliver System said in a news conference. The site will not be reopened until both Occupational Safety and Health Administration and our own contractors and engineers have deemed the site safe, Holderman said.

The construction workers were installing windows and sidings using the scaffolding that had a platform on each floor of the tower, PRMC staff said. According to the hospital, this project is the largest the health group has undertaken to date and was being overseen by McCarthy NM.

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