lunes, 2 de julio de 2012

Shard window cleaner stuck on 72nd floor - BBC News

A window cleaner was stuck on the 72nd floor of the Shard in south London in windy conditions.

London Fire Brigade was called at 14:15 BST to reports of a "window cleaner's cradle in a precarious position", but engineers soon made the cradle safe.

A spokesman for the Shard confirmed there was a window cleaner in the cradle, adding: "The wind got up a bit more than we were anticipating."

The 309.6 metre (1,015ft) skyscraper will be officially opened on Thursday.

The building on St Thomas Street in Southwark is the tallest in western Europe.

The 95-storey skyscraper will be occupied up to the 78th floor.

Ten firefighters were sent to the scene but soon after they arrived the situation was resolved by on-site engineers, the fire brigade said.

An ambulance had also been on standby.

'Swinging wildly'

The spokesman for the Shard said: "The wind got up a bit more than we were anticipating and the window cleaner was brought down to ground level.

"He wasn't hurt.

"I think it was seen from a helicopter and people panicked unnecessarily."

Three other window cleaners were also at work on the building's facade.

Neil Walsh, 30, a marketing executive from Dartford, Kent, who filmed the incident on his mobile phone, said: "I happened to notice that the window cleaning box was swinging wildly.

"It was dangling from quite a thin arm and was a few feet away from the building itself, rocking left, right, up and down.

"The last few days have been windy and it must have been worse up there.

"I filmed it thinking the box was empty. That was a worry in itself, without me realising there was someone inside, probably cowering in a corner and hanging on for dear life."

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