Local News in Brief : Garden Grove : Five Workers Injured as Ceiling Collapses

Five workers were injured Thursday morning when a steel and concrete ceiling in a building under construction partially collapsed.

One man went into shock and was transported to the trauma center at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, according to Lt. John Woods. The other four, who suffered minor injuries, were treated at the Medical Center of Garden Grove and Humana Hospital Westminster. A sixth worker escaped without injury.

City building inspectors are investigation the cause of the collapse of the mall building in the 13000 block of Brookhurst Street.

Workers were spraying concrete onto a ceiling at about 8:40 a.m. when most of the ceiling fell down and knocked the workers off a three-foot-high scaffolding, Woods said. Firefighters took three of the men out on stretchers within 20 minutes of the accident, according to Woods. The other two escaped by themselves, he said.

Brian Kelley, 25, who was hanging another ceiling next door at the time of the collapse, said he could feel the building shake as the ceiling fell down.

“I thought earthquake,” he said. “I went outside and everybody was running around like crazy.”

Within an hour of the mishap, a jittery Kelley was back at work.

But, he said, “If I feel a shudder, I’m getting out of here.”