Construction worker killed in New Jersey balcony collapse

A balcony at a Jersey Shore condo complex collapsed on Friday, killing a 43-year-old construction worker who became pinned under a 30-foot concrete slab.

Jose Pereira, of 43, was working for Ferguson Contracting Inc at the Spinnaker building in Sea Isle City, New Jersey on Friday when an eighth-floor balcony collapsed onto the balcony one floor below it around 2.30pm, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Rescue efforts were thwarted for hours as the side of the building was deemed structurally unsafe, and the Spinnaker was evacuated as more responders and equipment were brought in, the newspaper reported.

Eventually, after the seventh-floor balcony was stabilised, rescuers cut through reinforced concrete, heavy-lift airbags were used to lift the slab off of Mr Pereira and he could finally be reached.

Police said he was pronounced dead at 9.52pm, according to the Inquirer.

The incident remains under investigation by Sea Isle City police with assistance from the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the paper reported.