Horrified onlookers see window washer fall 8 stories to death, California cops say

Marchella Minafee happened to glance up in time to catch a horrifying sight as a window washer plunged to his death in California.

“I looked up and I saw a man, a cart and a rope,” Minafee told KGTV.

The man fell eight stories from a downtown San Diego apartment complex in the East Village at 11:45 a.m. Pacific time Wednesday, Jan. 26, when the scaffold collapsed, police told KNSD.

“I was just coming back from my lunch hour and I heard a loud ‘bang’ sound. Actually, screaming and then a loud ‘bang’ sound,” Diana Allen told the station.

The fatal plunge left onlookers shaken.

“I just broke down crying because I had never seen anything like that, you know, real,” Paul Longanbach, who lives in the building, told KGTV. “ It was a gruesome sight.”

The man, whose name has not been released, died at the scene, KSWB reported.

The accident happened at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa, a 14-story affordable housing community operated by Father Joe’s Villages, according to the station.

In a statement, Father Joe’s Villages and Chelsea Investment Corporation said they were “saddened” by the accident, KGTV reported.

“From our team, we extend our heartfelt prayers and deepest condolences to the victim’s family, friends, and colleagues,” the statement read. “As a close-knit community, we understand the impact that this tragedy will have on the family and loved ones, and on the lives of all of our partners involved in this project.”

Police and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health are investigating the death.

In October 2020, two window washers were rescued after their scaffolding collapsed and left them dangling in the air from a 10-story office building in California, McClatchy News previously reported.

This story was originally published January 27, 2022 at 7:48 AM with the headline "Horrified onlookers see window washer fall 8 stories to death, California cops say."