Father and Son Die in Tragic 100ft Fall After Platform Collapse in Liverpool
A father and son tragically lost their lives after plunging 100 feet to their deaths when the platform they were working on suddenly collapsed in a horror work accident. David Bottomley, 53, and his 17-year-old son, Clayton, were carrying out exterior cladding work on the Unity Building in Liverpool when the fatal incident occurred, via The Sun.
An inquest into their deaths is currently being held at the Gerard Majella Courthouse in Liverpool. According to witnesses and workers on the scene, the platform the pair were working on fell due to what was described as a failure in the brakes, leading to the deadly collapse. David and Clayton fell from the 21st floor and tragically landed on the roof of the seventh floor below.
One witness, Jack Watson, was inside his 13th-floor apartment when the crash occurred. Describing the noise as similar to “a plane crash or car bomb,” Jack immediately rushed to the scene. He found David unresponsive with “clear signs of a brain injury” and no pulse. Sadly, David was declared dead at the scene. Clayton, who was severely injured, was taken to intensive care but passed away four days later at Aintree University Hospital, according to Liverpool Echo.
The Unity Building, where the accident happened, is a 27-storey residential block with 161 apartments and a 16-floor commercial tower. Shanee Tatton, a resident on the 21st floor, recounted seeing David outside her window just moments before the fall. She said David had been “making her laugh” before he and Clayton began their work on the building.
Shanee was in an online meeting when she heard a “loud noise” that sounded like “something falling and crashing at speed.” Another witness, Thomas Blanchfield, who was in a solicitor’s office nearby, explained that he saw David trying to grab something as the platform began to fall. He heard several “loud clicks” before the platform dropped about a foot and then plunged into freefall.
Blanchfield described the sound as being like “a Catherine wheel or a zip-wire” and shouted, “the baskets have dropped” as the platform fell. Laura Hampton, also in a nearby office, described how witnesses started “screaming” as they watched the father and son fall.
The inquest into the incident is expected to last seven days, as investigators work to determine the cause of the platform’s collapse and the events leading up to the tragic accident.