Scaffolding collapses above Sydney Metro station, crushing van

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Scaffolding collapses above Sydney Metro station, crushing van

By Michael Koziol and Jessica McSweeney

Scaffolding has collapsed at a construction site above the Sydney Metro Gadigal station, crushing an Australia Post van below.

A man in his 50s was sitting inside the vehicle, near the corner of Pitt and Bathurst streets in Sydney’s CBD, when the structure came down about 9.30am on Thursday.

A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed the occupant of the van was assessed by paramedics but was not injured.

Witnesses described a “massive crash” as the scaffolding plummeted from a crane above the new metro station.

An office worker who was walking below the construction awning said the sound was “terrifying”.

“All of a sudden I heard this massive crash like a metre away from me,” he said.

The scene of the incident near the corner of Pitt and Bathurst streets in Sydney’s CBD.

The scene of the incident near the corner of Pitt and Bathurst streets in Sydney’s CBD.Credit: Kate Geraghty

“There was this massive steel structure that had just fallen from a crane or something attached to the building.

“It landed on the back of this white utility van. The guy [walking] behind me had fallen over. The construction workers were trying to check on him.”

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The witness said people immediately began running away from the area.

“l started thinking there might be more coming, more things falling.”

The construction site is for a development above the metro station.

The Pitt Street South building will be the CBD’s first build-to-rent apartment complex. The 39-storey development is set to provide 234 individual homes.

Pitt Street is closed to traffic between Liverpool and Bathurst streets.

More to come

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