Mile End accident: witnesses say 'it could have been any of us' as woman is crushed under pallet of bricks in horror incident

Passers-by rush to help a woman who has been hit by falling bricks and debris in Tower Hamlets

The family of a woman left fighting for life after being crushed under a pallet of bricks demanded answers today.

The victim was understood to have been on the school run when she was hit by the load, which fell from a 100ft crane in Mile End.

A friend of the woman said: “Her family are devastated, we all are. She has ended up fighting for life in hospital on her 29th birthday.

“We had seen pallets of bricks wobbling up there, it was just not safe. It could have been any of us. The family and all of us want answers.

”Footage of the incident yesterday morning shows the woman lying unconscious among smashed bricks and other debris in Burdett Road, as members of the public and site workers give her first aid.

The woman was crushed when a pallet of bricks gave way hundreds of feet above ground

The crane was being operated at Bow Corner, a development of flats by Higgins. Steve Boreham, construction director of Higgins Homes, said: “Our primary thoughts and concerns are with the lady who has been injured and those affected.” He said the firm is working with the Health and Safety Executive.

Construction worker Florian Toader, who is on a nearby site, said: “There is a mesh cover that should protect the pallet of bricks but it has been caught and ripped.”

The aftermath of the accident in Mile End

A vicar today told how she said prayers next to a woman who was being given CPR after a pallet of bricks fell on her from a crane.

Bernadette Hegarty, the vicar of St Paul's Church Bow Common said: "She looked very wounded I sat and prayed with her as paramedics fought to bring her back (to life). I did not see the accident but went over to comfort her after I heard what had happened."

The vicar, whose church is opposite the building site and attached to the school which the woman's son attends, said the woman is a popular member of the close knit local community.

She added: "I know her to say hello to, she is a well liked member of the community. We are in deep shock as are the workers from the building site."

"I did not see the accident but went over to comfort her after I heard what had happened."

The church is going to hold prayers for the woman tomorrow and Friday.

She said: "We are very shocked as a community. The young woman and her family are in our thoughts and prayers."

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