February 25, 2023
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Jose Pereira, a 43-year-old man who worked for Ferguson Contracting Inc. of Yardley, Pennsylvania, died when a concrete slab fell on him after a balcony collapsed at the Spinnaker condominium complex in Sea Isle City Friday.
A Philadelphia man died following a balcony collapse at a Sea Isle City condominium on Friday.
Jose Pereira, 43, was pronounced dead at the Spinnaker Condominiums at 9:52 p.m., first reported by The Press of Atlantic City.
Pereira was working for Ferguson Contracting of Yardley, Pa., when the eighth-floor balcony fell onto a seventh-floor balcony on the north side of the complex at unit 712, located at 3500-3700 Boardwalk. Initial reports also said two other people were injured.
Workers are beginning repairs at the Spinnaker in Sea Isle City where a balcony collapsed yesterday, trapping one worker and injuring two others. Mayor Leonard Desiderio said there will be a news release from police today to update the status of the recovery mission. pic.twitter.com/feGyWv323K
— John Russo (@ACPress_Russo) February 25, 2023
At around 2:20 on Friday, the balcony collapsed, and a 30-foot-long slab of concrete trapped a man, who turned out to be Pereira.
An initial attempt to rescue Pereira was thwarted by first responders because of cracks in the surrounding area and a slope to the balcony, police said on Saturday. The building was determined to be unsafe, which caused an evacuation as additional emergency response teams were called to support the rescue attempt.
To get Pereira from underneath the rubble of the collapsed concrete first responders had to stabilize the seventh-floor balcony before cutting through 12 inches of reinforced concrete where they found his body, NJ.com reported. After lifting the concrete slab off the body, a nurse declared Pereira dead at the scene, and he was transported to the Cape May County Medical Examiner's office.
The Cape May County and Camden County Regional Urban Search and Rescue teams responded to the building collapse. Strathmere, Ocean City, Marmora, Stone Harbor, and Wildwood firefighters also assisted.
All of the balcony decks are being reinforced, officials said, Saturday, according to multiple reports. There will be a structural evaluation by private engineers after the buildings at the condo are considered safe.
The Spinnaker Condominiums were built in the 1970s.
The incident is under further investigation.
