Subcontractors were cleaning guttering when one fell 40 ft through the roof

A FIREMAN has given an eyewitness account of the drama in which a man fell 40 ft through a warehouse roof.

Lewis Orrow, red watch manager at Stratford fire station, said that the 54-year-old subcontractor who plummeted through the roof of the Iron Mountain building in Bradfield Road on Tuesday afternoon had been cleaning gutters with a colleague.

Mr Orrow said: “He was moaning and in a lot of pain when we arrived.

“He was treated by an ambulance crew and taken to hospital.

“His colleague was still on the roof at the back of the building.

“He was a bit shook up and in a state of shock.

“We used a ladder to get him down.”

The man, who suffered serious but not life threatening chest injuries from his fall, remains in a stable condition at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

An investigation into the incident has been launched by the Health & Safety Executive.

A spokesman for the multinational company said that it was co-operating with the authorities on the investigation.