A New Zealand concrete worker who plunged to his death from a Gold Coast high-rise construction site at the weekend was a father of two who originally came from the Bay of Plenty.
Chris Gear, 36, who sang in a Gold Coast band, and local man Steve Sayer, 52, slid off an outdoor swinging platform, as one side slumped and left them dangling from harnesses before the platform collapsed sending them crashing 26 storeys to their deaths.
A relative, Eileen Gear of Tauranga, told The New Zealand Herald Mr Gear grew up in the Matapihi area of Tauranga.
After leaving school he moved to Australia where he married some years ago and had two children.
Mr Gear and Mr Sayer had been patching concrete on outside walls of the high-rise, working from a platform suspended from the top of the building and anchored by counterweights.
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union state secretary Michael Ravbar said it appeared that the counterweights had somehow come over the top of the building.
"It's been a catastrophic collapse," Mr Ravbar said.
"The blokes screamed out and a lot of people turned around and saw them hanging from the harness and the next minute the counterweights have come over the top."
Mr Gear had been employed with Gold Coast formwork company Pryme Pty Ltd for five years and Mr Sayer had worked there for two years, company officials said.
"I knew them both very well," Pryme safety manager and union delegate Garry Partridge told Brisbane's Sunday Mail. "They were both such happy fellows. That makes it even harder to deal with.
He had spoken with Mr Gear earlier in the day: "Chris yelled out: 'It's a beautiful day'."
