A construction worker has died after falling approximately 30 feet from scaffolding while working at a Pittsburgh school, authorities said.
Emergency crews responded just before 9 a.m. Monday to the 500 block of North Highland Avenue after receiving reports of an injured person at Obama Academy.
According to police, construction workers were performing work in the school’s pool area, where scaffolding had been erected as part of an ongoing renovation project.
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First responders found the woman at the bottom of the empty swimming pool after she fell from the scaffolding.
Pittsburgh EMS, firefighters and Zone 5 police officers responded to the scene.
A spokesperson for Pittsburgh Public Schools said the woman was a member of a contracted construction crew working on a pool lighting project at the school.
The district said no students or school employees were involved in the incident.
The woman suffered severe head injuries and was transported to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in grave condition.
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Despite lifesaving efforts, she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as 36-year-old Noelle Mansour.
Police said detectives with the Violent Crime Unit responded to the scene, which is standard procedure for fatal incidents involving unattended deaths.
Authorities have not indicated that foul play is suspected.
Investigators are working to determine exactly how the fall occurred and whether any workplace safety issues contributed to the accident.
The incident remains under investigation.
The fatal accident occurred while construction work was underway on improvements to the school’s pool facilities.
Pittsburgh Public Schools expressed condolences following the tragedy and emphasized that the incident involved an outside contractor, not district employees or students.
No additional details about the circumstances surrounding the fall have been released.
Officials have not said whether the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will conduct a separate investigation, though fatal workplace accidents involving construction sites are routinely reviewed by federal workplace safety officials, CBS News reported.
Authorities have not released any further information as the investigation continues.
The Obama Presidential Center officially opened last week with all the pageantry one would expect from a project built to memorialize America’s 44th president.
Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Joe Biden attended the dedication ceremony.
Hollywood celebrities, political figures, musicians, and Democratic Party royalty filled the crowd.
The event was designed to celebrate legacy, leadership, and community investment.
But away from the spotlight, a very different story is still developing.
According to reporting from Fox News Digital, multiple subcontractors who helped build the Obama Presidential Center say they are still fighting to recover millions of dollars they claim remain unpaid after years of work on the project.
For some contractors, the dispute is not merely a business disagreement. They say it threatens the survival of their companies.
Mike Owen, owner of Adamson Plumbing, told Fox News Digital that his company is nearly $4 million in the red after working on the project.
“That is a hole that no subcontractor, small business can survive,” Owen said.
According to the report, several contractors described years of delays, repeated design changes, costly rework, scheduling disruptions, and compensation disputes that remain unresolved even as the center opens its doors to the public.
The allegations are particularly striking because the Obama Presidential Center was promoted as a model project for minority-owned businesses and local contractors.
The project was presented not only as a presidential monument but as an economic engine designed to create opportunity for businesses that historically struggled to access major construction contracts.
Yet some of those same businesses now claim they have been left carrying enormous financial losses.
Omar Shareef, president of the African American Contractors Association, told Fox News Digital that several Black-owned contractors privately approached him seeking help after suffering significant losses tied to the project.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
