TWO workers were treated for minor injuries when a large section of scaffolding on the building site at the former Brown Thomas department store in Dublin collapsed yesterday.
The incident happened at about 11 a.m. in Duke Lane, which is alongside the former side entrance to the department store.
The scaffolding, along with materials loaded on it, fell on the hoarding surrounding the site and crashed to the street.
"There was this terribly loud bang and then there was all this dust flying everywhere," said Ms Helen Byrne, who works, on a flower stall at the corner of Grafton Street and Duke Street.
"It was a big bang, a thump, and you couldn't see down there for the dust," said another eyewitness.
Duke Lane, which has an entrance to the Grafton Arcade, runs between the former Brown Thomas store and the Duke Lounge.
The two workers were taken to the Meath Hospital where they were treated for cuts and bruises. Dublin Fire Brigade officers used heat seeking cameras to make sure no one was buried under the collapsed scaffolding.
"I don't know what happened. I can't comment until I get a full report," said a site foreman with G. and T. Crampton Ltd. The site is being developed as a Marks and Spencer outlet.
An inspector from the Health and Safety Authority carried out an on site investigation. A spokesman said. "It was a very serious accident."
