TIJUANA, Mexico — A troubling rise in construction-site accidents across Tijuana—two of them fatal—has prompted local officials to intensify jobsite inspections in an effort to prevent further injuries and deaths.

According to José Luis Jiménez González, head of Tijuana’s civil protection agency, the uptick in incidents has led his department to take immediate action.

“We’ve shut down four construction projects so far due to the lack of safety equipment that led to workers being injured,” he said.

Just this week, a 34-year-old worker tragically died after falling from the fifth floor of a building under construction, underscoring the growing risk faced by laborers as the city’s development boom pushes buildings higher into the skyline.

Jiménez González told El Sol Newspaper that although he does not yet have an exact figure on construction-related incidents this year, “it was a high figure.” He emphasized that “the theme of people being injured has increased a lot at construction zones, some have been deadly, there has been a significant increase.”

The city has seen a surge in large-scale development projects in recent years, with 56 high-rise residential or commercial towers currently under construction. Many of these structures far exceed the height of typical projects built in past decades.

“Before most jobs were at ground level, maybe two to three floors high, but now everything is going up and you have to factor in questions about fires, rescues and medical attention,” Jiménez González explained.

Safety deficiencies, such as the lack of proper harnesses and fall protection gear, are reportedly widespread. Jiménez González confirmed that several contractors have already been cited for failing to provide adequate safety equipment to their crews.

Another contributing factor, he noted, is the lack of qualified personnel on-site to offer proper safety training and oversight. As construction activity grows more complex, so does the need for specialized safety protocols.

In response, the civil protection agency plans to implement a more aggressive inspection strategy.

“We will be doing unannounced inspections around the city, this is a trend we have to stop, human life is the most important resource and needs to be protected,” he said.

Officials hope that increased oversight will not only bring dangerous construction sites into compliance but also pressure contractors to invest in long-overdue safety training and equipment for workers operating in high-risk environments.

The city’s rapid vertical growth, while a sign of economic investment and urban expansion, has introduced a new set of risks that authorities say must be urgently addressed to protect Tijuana’s labor force.

Originally reported by KRQE.