Neighbor R contacted Bernalwood to find out if the Bernal community can somehow assist the families struggling to recover from last week’s fatal accident at Galaxy/CGI Granite on Cortland. To assess their needs, he visited the facility over the weekend:

Just spoke with the owner’s wife, who is visibly shaken. Here’s what she told me:

Her husband, the owner, is at home today, apparently he’s been sitting on the floor in a corner crying all night. He’s been repeating “they were my brothers”

The manager Philip was one of the victims, a long time employee who the owner gave a second chance to hiring him when he got out of jail for something years ago. He has no wife or children. She said “they were buddies” and mimed an arm around him…

Second victim was another longtime employee, with grown children. “Also buddies,” she said. Also told me they have workman’s comp and life insurance policies etc, so that should take care of survivors for the time being.

Left my name and number as well as the Bernalwood blog url, told her to pass on to her husband and if he wanted to talk or share anything with the neighborhood to call me, but no pressure if he didn’t want to. Also passed on the neighborhood’s condolences. Doesn’t sound like fundraising is necessary, at least at this point.

The San Francisco Chronicle has identified the victims as Hector Vazquez, 46, of Oakland, and Philip Marich, 53, of South San Francisco. The Chron also notes:

Meng Peng, the owner of Galaxy Granite, was in the container when the accident occurred. He said earlier that one of the victims insisted he could handle a slab on his own just before the load toppled over, trapping the men.

PHOTO: Accident scene on Friday, via KTVU

Lots of questions from Bernalwood readers about all the helicopters over the neighborhood right now. KCBS reports there’s been a fatal accident at the Cortland workshop of CGI Granite:

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – One person was killed and another was injured in an industrial accident in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood Friday morning, a fire dispatcher said.

The accident was reported at 10:16 a.m. at 1525 Cortland Ave., where granite slabs fell on top of two employees, according to the fire department.

One of the two victims was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with traumatic injuries, fire officials said.

This post will be updated as additional information becomes available.

UPDATE 1 pm, 7 February: The second worker involved in the accident has died as well. KTVU has a photo of the accident site, and additional details:

Two workers were fatally injured by granite slabs that fell on them as they worked in a shipping container in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood Friday morning, a fire department spokeswoman said.

The accident was reported at 10:16 a.m. at 1525 Cortland Ave., fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said.

After the slabs fell on them, they were both extricated from the shipping container. One of the workers was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was taken to San Francisco General Hospital and was pronounced dead there, Talmadge said.

KTVU also has a video report from the scene.