News

City identifies victim of retaining wall collapse

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 14, 2021

The city of Hendersonville identified the worker who was killed Wednesday in a retaining wall collapse as 37-year-old Marcelino Godofredo Rendon Hernandez.

Emergency services personnel were dispatched to the wall collapse with entrapment in the Hajoca parking lot at 1027 Spartanburg Highway at 9:30 a.m. When first responders arrived, they encountered a retaining wall that had fallen and trapped construction crew members underneath.

First responders determined there were five contracted masonry crew members with Robert Crawford Masonry in the area of the wall collapse. One crew member, who escaped the collapse with minor injuries, relayed information that four additional crew members were working with him. Emergency services personnel conducted rescue efforts to extricate three men, followed by recovery efforts to retrieve the man who died when the wall collapsed.

• One worker sustained minor injuries and was treated on scene.
• One man was initially transported by ambulance to Pardee Hospital and later transported to Mission Hospital due to the extent of his injuries.
• Two men were transported to Mission Hospital via helicopter (Regional One Air Medical out of Spartanburg, SC, and GHS Med Trans out of Greenville, SC).
• One fatality was confirmed at the scene.

The city had no additional updates on the medical status of patients who were transported to Mission Hospital. 

The N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division and the Hendersonville Police Department are investigating the incident.

The city of Hendersonville thanked the many first responders for their collaboration on the rescue, recovery and investigative efforts:

Blue Ridge Fire Department, Cason Builders Supply, Dana Fire Department, Henderson County Building Inspector, Henderson County Emergency Management, Henderson County EMS, Henderson County Rescue Squad, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, Hendersonville Fire Department, Hendersonville Police Department, Hendersonville Public Works, Hendersonville Water & Sewer, Laurel Park Police Department, NC Department of Labor, NC Department of Transportation, NC Emergency Management, NC State Highway Patrol, NC USAR Task Force 2 out of Buncombe County and other neighboring fire departments and law enforcement agencies.