DJ escaped death following scaffold collapse (From Wandsworth Guardian)

DJ escaped death following Balham scaffold collapse

7:40am Saturday 14th April 2012 in News By Alexandra Rucki

A DJ said she narrowly escaped death when a huge scaffolding tower collapsed on Tuesday morning.

Sol Salisbury, was driving along Balham High Road, when the scaffolding crashed down across the road in front of him at about 3.20am.

The collapse destroyed a street light and a concrete pillar, and would have almost certainly killed or seriously injured anyone in its path.

Ms Salisbury said: "I was a bit disturbed as I saw a single ladies shoe amongst the rubble and thought "Oh no" as I was the first person on the scene and was also on the phone to the police at the same time.

"I was trying to clear the immediate obstacles from the road, but I didn't realise that I was in fact trying to shift a whole street light which has been brought down.

"After seeing the destruction I was thankful that no one was around, as if this happened at eight or nine in the hustle and bustle of Balham it would have clearly been a different story with a possibility of a death toll."

The road was sealed off until about 10am that morning to allow the scaffolding to be removed, severely disrupting traffic. A number of businesses had their electricity supply cut off.

Jay Kaila, manager of The Optical Trading Company, said: "The power got cut off so we had to delay opening until 11am, everything is back to normal now. Our clinic had to be put back an hour."

An Oxfam charity worker said: "I saw the road was blocked off, it was ok by 9.30am. Everyone was talking about it around then."