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One worker dies, another is seriously injured after falling from scaffolding at the University of Chicago Medical Center

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A 27-year-old worker has died and another is in critical condition after they fell from scaffolding at the construction site of a hospital on the South Side in the Hyde Park neighborhood on a stormy Thursday.

The incident occurred around 11:45 a.m. in the 5600 block of South Drexel Avenue near the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to police and Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

A 27-year-old worker died and another man was in critical condition, said police and Langford, who was at the scene where the scaffolding was still “swinging back and forth in the wind.”

Officials are gathering outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue on Thursday, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Officials are gathering outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue on Thursday, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Workers in hardhats gathered outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park on Thursday after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Officials are gathering outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue on Thursday, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

|
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Workers in hardhats gather outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park on Thursday after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

A building under construction in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue is seen outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago School of Medicine on Thursday after two construction workers fell from the site, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Officials are gathering outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue on Thursday, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

|
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Officials are gathering outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue on Thursday, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

|
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

A medical worker crosses the street outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park on Thursday after two construction workers reportedly fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Workers in hardhats gather outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park on Thursday after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

|
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Officials are gathering outside the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medicine in Hyde Park after two construction workers fell from a hospital construction site in the 5700 block of South Drexel Avenue on Thursday, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

|
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of 35 to 40 mph throughout the Chicago area throughout the day.

Both workers were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, which is across the street from where the scaffold collapsed. Police believe the crash was an accident.

Several police and fire engines remained at the scene hours after the accident, and two hospital employees observed the authorities’ further investigation through a first-floor window.

Many construction workers appeared visibly shaken and one gave a man in a black shirt a big hug.

Ricardo Ortega, an employee of the University of Chicago Medical Center, walked past the crime scene.

“I’ve seen a lot in my life,” said 22-year-old Ortega. “It’s sad, people die every day.”

This is a developing story. Check back later for more details.

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