THE parents of a man crushed by a cage on a building site have thanked his co-workers for trying to save him.

David Holloway, 35, was attaching cages to a crane at a building site in Haven Road, Colchester, when one fell on him.

An inquest into his death yesterday heard Mr Holloway’s colleague, Ameendeep Singh, ran to help.

Mr Singh said: “The cage was on him. I came straight away.

“All the people were running and trying to lift the cage up.”

Brian Forde, project manager, told the inquest: “I was about 25 yards away. The cage was on top of David. Everyone worked to get it off him.”

David’s dad Jim, who travelled with his wife Joy from New Zealand to attend the inquest at Essex Coroner’s Court, said: “We would like to express our appreciation for what they did.

“They stayed with him until the paramedics came.”

Crane driver Lesley Tiborcz was working with Mr Holloway on the morning of January 8 last year, moving six cages to clear part of the site.

Mr Holloway would secure them to four chains before they were lifted elsewhere.

They were being moved two at a time and they were on the final two – this time with a smaller cage underneath a bigger one.

Test lifts were done, but one of the cages fell on to Mr Holloway from a height of 15ft to 20ft.

Two of the four chains had come off and the second cage remained hanging above.

It is not clear if the cage fell because it was not attached properly or if part of the cage fell apart, causing it to fall.

Mr Tiborcz said: “I felt a shudder on the crane itself.”

Pictures revealed parts of the cage had broken off. However, it is not clear if they broke away causing the cage to fall, or as a result of the fall.

Because the area of the incident was cleared to allow an air ambulance to land on the site, potential evidence may have been lost.

Site foreman Joseph McNamara said when he arrived two of the chains were hanging loose and the other two attached to the other cage.

He said: “I have been on sites for 28 years and never had a broken fingernail, so when you see someone lying like this on the site, it is all you see.”

Mr Holloway, of Roberts Road, Colchester, had moved from New Zealand and was due to get married to fiancee Nicky McCloy, who also attended the hearing.

The inquest continues.