Wall collapse kills 1 construction worker, injures 3 others in Idaho

A rendering of the completed Diamond Back Townhomes in Sun Valley, Idaho. Four workers were injured by a collapsed wall at the site over the weekend.A rendering of the completed Diamond Back Townhomes in Sun Valley, Idaho. Four workers were injured by a collapsed wall at the site over the weekend.

One worker is dead and three others were injured in Sun Valley, Idaho, after the supporting wall of a townhouse the men were helping build suddenly collapsed on top of three of them.

According to a report from the Idaho Mountain Express, the men were working on the second floor of one of the Diamond Back townhouses at White Clouds Residences when the wall collapsed some time after 12:30 p.m. Friday. Sun Valley assistant police chief Mike Crawford told the paper that the men were buried under “at least two heavy sides of drywall.”

When rescue workers arrived at the scene, the co-workers of the men were working to free them from the debris. The first man uncovered was able to walk to the ambulance with the help of the first responders. It would take 20 minutes to uncover the next two men who had to be cut out of the debris. A fourth worker was injured by the collapse but not buried in the debris.

The three men beneath the debris were rushed to the hospital. Ricardo Ayala-Martinez, 46 was pronounced dead at the hospital about 30 minutes later.

Both the Idaho Division of Building Safety and one of the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration offices are investigating the incident.