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Workers rescued after swing stage ropes break outside 56th floor of downtown Toronto hotel
Two workers have been rescued after some of the ropes holding up a swing stage atop a soaring downtown Toronto hotel broke.
Toronto Fire was called in around 1 p.m. after two people became stuck on the outside of the building at Adelaide and Bay streets.
Images from the scene appeared to show a swing stage dangling from atop the St. Regis Hotel.
Toronto Fire said two workers were on the swing stage outside the 56th floor of the hotel when two of the four ropes holding it up broke.
“The stage was loose. It was being bantered around by the winds,” Platoon Chief William Bygrave told CP24 at the scene.
He said Toronto Fire’s technical rescue team went to the 57th floor and managed to secure the stage and rescue the workers.
They were checked over at the scene, but no serious injuries were reported, firefighters said.
“The company involved in this operation has been notified,” Bygrave said. He said they were expected to attend the scene shortly in order to further secure the stage or remove it.
Bygrave called it a “dangerous” situation, but said the stage has been secured.
It’s not yet clear what caused the ropes to break. The workers were replacing tiles on the building at the time.
The Ministry of Labour has been notified.
Roads around the building were briefly shut down because of the incident.
With Files from CP24 Reporter Beatrice Vaisman