Devastated friends of the teenage apprentice who was crushed to death by collapsing scaffolding at a construction site have shown their emotion as they carried his coffin during his funeral.
Christopher Cassaniti, 18, died at Macquarie Park in north-west Sydney on April 1 when a 15-metre tower of scaffolding fell on top of him.
Family, friends and co-workers wearing bright orange high-visibility work shirts attended Mr Cassaniti’s funeral at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Friday.
Mr Cassaniti’s father Rob was clutching his son’s work shirt at the service.
Devastated friends of the teenage apprentice who was crushed to death by collapsing scaffolding at a construction site have shown their emotion as they carried his coffin during his funeral
Mr Cassaniti’s devasted parents Patrizia and Rob (pictured) held their son’s work shirt with his surname written on it at his funeral
Family, friends and co-workers wearing bright orange high-visibility work shirts attended Mr Cassaniti’s funeral at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Friday
Mr Cassaniti’s father Rob (pictured) was seen clutching his son’s work shirt at the service
Christopher Cassaniti (pictured), 18, died at Macquarie Park in north-west Sydney on April 1 when a 15-metre tower of scaffolding fell on top of him
His mother Patrizia, who served coffee at a mobile truck down the road, was on the site within minutes after the disaster and was told her son was trapped.
She posted a photo with her ‘beautiful boy’ on Facebook, captioning it: ‘My Guardian Angel… sooo much pain.’
Speculation has mounted as to what caused the collapse which also hospilatised a 39-year-old trademsan.
Union bosses believe that human error was the most likely cause.
CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan hinted that the scaffolding was either not put up properly or overloaded.
Mr Cassaniti’s brothers and his mother Patrizia released a dove at his funeral on Friday
Mr Cassaniti was working at a construction site in north-west Sydney when the scaffolding he was standing on collapsed
Mr Cassaniti’s funeral was held at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Friday. Pictured: The order of service
Devastated friends carried Mr Cassaniti’s coffin inside the church where his funeral was held on Friday
Workers dressed in high-visibility clothing supported each other with hugs outside the church
He told Daily Mail Australia: ‘When scaffolding is used and erected correctly according to specifications, properly maintained and the ties are left in, and it’s loaded only in accordance with the safe working loads that are appropriate to its design, then it doesn’t fall down.
‘Somewhere in that chain, something has gone wrong.’
Police and SafeWork NSW are investigating.
Last year the safety watchdog issued 100 notices for breaches of scaffold safety rules amid fears developers were riding roughshod over regulations in order to meet tight deadlines during Sydney’s building boom.
During visits to 1,000 construction sites in the year to November 2018, regulators issued $265,000 worth of fines for various safety breaches.
The mother of an apprentice tradesman who was crushed to death at a building site has paid tribute to her ‘guardian angel’ in a moving Facebook post. She captioned the above photo: ‘My Guardian Angel .. sooo much pain.’
Patrizia Cassaniti (pictured with her husband at the scene) runs a coffee and food truck near the construction site where her son Christopher was killed
Happy family: Christopher Cassaniti (centre) celebrated his milestone birthday with proud parents Patrizia and Rob
Tragic: Christopher Cassaniti, 18, died in the collapse at Macquarie Park, north-west Sydney on Monday. He is pictured on holiday in Hawaii
Harrowing: This is the harrowing moment tradesmen frantically tried to save two of their friends trapped under a mountain of collapsed scaffolding at a construction site
The firm which erected the scaffolding at Macquaire Park, Synergy Scaffolding Services, said safety of workers is paramount.
‘We adhere to all safety regulations, ensure all staff are suitably qualified and undergo specific training and inductions,’ it said in a statement.
Harrowing video emerged from the scene showing frantic tradesmen trying to save their two trapped colleagues.
Blood-curdling screams echoed around the building site as tradesmen in hard hats and high-vis jackets rushed to free the men.
They were desperate to help but police held them back, fearing that dislodging just one piece of steel would cause tonnes of twisted metal and concrete to collapse further and crush the men to death.
‘You’re wasting time. We need access,’ a tradesman can be heard shrieking in mobile phone footage which showed a policewoman ushering the workers back.
Amid the screaming and shouting a policeman said into a megaphone: ‘Oi everybody, we need you guys to help us,’ before he lowered the device because his radio interfered.
Amid the carnage a policeman (right) took a megaphone and said: ‘Oi everybody, we need you guys to help us,’ before he lowered the device because his radio interfered
Frantic: Workers desperately tried to free their colleagues for 20 minutes until the wailing stopped and they were ordered to move away
A policeman (pictured) approached the agitated men and said: ‘If you move one piece the whole thing may collapse. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle.’
‘We are helping,’ one tradesman shouted as another yelled: ‘You’ve got a whole army here – we’re ready.’
Another policeman approached the agitated men and said: ‘If we move the wrong piece more will collapse. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle.’
‘Give us instructions then, let’s do something,’ a tradesman replied.
‘Come on let’s start,’ one yelled.
The policeman explained: ‘If you move anything, boom, collapse…’
At that point an unknown man screamed: ‘My brother’s down there.’
The policeman continued: ‘Listen, listen. Let the ambos stabilise it and as soon as they say ready we’ll get it.’
Mr Cassaniti died in the collapse at Macquarie Park, becoming the fifth person to die at a construction site in Australia this year.
His 39-year-old colleague was pulled from the debris and raced to hospital in critical condition where he has since stabilised.
‘We are empty and devastated by the loss of our beautiful boy’: Christopher Cassaniti’s family statement
‘We feel devastated and empty by the loss of our beautiful boy Christopher.
‘Christopher was a gentle, kind and hardworking young man full of life and love for his family. He was adored by everyone who was lucky enough to meet him.
‘While nothing can bring our son back, we don’t want his death to be just another statistic.
‘No other family should have to go through this horrendous pain.
‘We ask that the government step in and take immediate action and implement stringent measures regarding safety on construction sites.
‘Crucial safety checks and procedures need to be at the front and centre of every construction site.
‘We await the outcome of the investigation as to what went wrong.
‘We will miss him dearly. One death is too many.
‘We would please ask that the media now leave us in peace to deal with our loss.’