Labour ministry investigates scaffold collapse

The Ministry of Labour is starting an investigation after scaffolding on a construction work site collapsed Thursday.

Rueben Ponte was trapped for four hours before being rescued by Toronto firefighters. He was conscious throughout the ordeal.

He was sent to hospital, but is back at home now, with leg and back injuries. He also suffered from the effects of the heat.

The accident happened Thursday morning at the QEW and Highway 427. Sixteen construction workers were on the scaffold at the time. Fifteen of them made it out safely soon after the collapse.

Alan Craig is the director of Toronto's Emergency Medical Services.

"Fortunately instead of falling or being crushed this gentleman slid down the collapsing forms," says Alan Craig, the director of Toronto's Emergency Medical Services. "So he wasn't actually caught or crushed as we feared he might have been. So fortunately his injuries are quite minor."

As well as Ponte, five workers were sent to hospital with minor injuries.

The workers were pouring concrete for a new highway ramp at the time of the accident.

They are employed by Dufferin Construction. The company's general manager, Lloyd Ferguson, calls all of the workers heroes for helping each other.