9 workers injured in partial building collapse

Fernando Alexander almost died for a day laborers pay.

"I almost died. Yes sir," he said while looking and the collapse site still in his hospital gown.

It was around nine in the morning on Monday. Alexander was on a nine-man crew pouring  concrete for this new building's roof when the bottom fell out-- quite literally.

"The floor just gave way, we heard a rumble. The floor just gave way. There was nothing to grab onto. So we just held on for out lives and just prayed. That's all you can do," he said.

He prayed and hoped the collapse wouldn't set off a chain reaction.

"We had out boots on and we had to struggle to get out of the concrete. Then call 9-1-1 as fast as we could," he said.

Firefighters rescued the seriously  injured workers, while those who could get out, got out.

"We are hearing is rescue has evacuated the building but we still need to get other personnel in there to make sure the building is safe. They're saying it's stable right now. That they do not expect another collapse or a secondary collapse," said Asst. Chief Issac Garcia.

So what went wrong? The general contractor, Classic Construction, had all the permits put to date. So was this a design failure? Or an execution failure? We will have to wait for the investigation to wrap up before we will know. And speaking of not knowing, Alexander really doesn't know how he escaped with just an injured back and ankle.

"I'm surprised I went up there knowing it was unsafe," he said.

He also doesn't know who will pay his medical bills, or even if he will get paid for the day.  We've called the construction company. Nobody answered and their mailbox was full.