A 24-year-old construction worker was fatally crushed Thursday, Oct. 24, while riding a construction elevator at an in-development Virgin Hotel in New York City, according to the New York Daily News. Medics took two other persons to a nearby medical center with minor injuries.
Project developers The Lam Group began construction on the hotel in 2015. According to CityRealty, the 39-story, 510-foot building topped off early this year. The 500-room hotel is slated to open in 2020, according to Virgin Hotels’ website.
The death comes less than two weeks after an under-construction Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans partially collapsed, killing three and injuring dozens. According to local news channel WWL-TV, crews were still looking for the bodies of two of the victims as of Oct. 24. Once they are found, the city reportedly would begin demolition of the remaining structure.