A PG&E plant in the process of being torn down collapsed and killed a worker and injured two others today. Earlier this afternoon in an abandoned Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power plant in Bayview-Hunter's Point, workers who had been hired by the utility leviathan to remove the large boiler "had tied cables to the boiler, but it collapsed prematurely, raining debris down upon the workers." The five-story-tall walls of the power plant caved in, killing one and trapping two for over an hour. According to the Gate:

The two surviving victims were pulled from the wreckage before 1 p.m. and taken to San Francisco General Hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries to their legs, Talmadge said. One of the men had been trapped in a "cage of steel," said Fire Department Lt. Ken Smith.

James Bryant, president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, who has been monitoring the demolition project, goes on to say about the 20-plus work crew, "[t]hey've had an exemplary safety record so far...doing a controlled take-down, and this is a surprise." Well, yes.

The two survivors were rushed to San Francisco General Hospital's trauma unit.

Image: KTVU2