Construction worker dies after falling off West Palm building

A construction worker died after falling off a building in downtown West Palm Beach Saturday, according to police.

The woman, identified as Yamileth Martínez Poncé, 23, fell from of the 13th floor of a building under construction at 1515 S. Flagler Drive, according to WPEC-Channel 12. A new development called La Clara, with 83 high-rise condominiums is being built at the address, according to public records.

Poncé was working on flooring on the 13th floor of the building when, “for reasons we do not yet know,” she fell off the balcony to the second-floor landing just before 9 a.m. Saturday, Mike Jachles, a spokesman for West Palm Beach, told reporters in a press conference Saturday afternoon. He said West Palm Beach Fire Rescue pronounced her dead on the scene, and a police homicide unit is investigating.

“Nobody observed her falling, but there were workers that saw out of their peripheral vision. They saw the fall,” Jachles said at the press conference.

He said the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified.

Poncé worked for Merit Floors, a company based in Miami-Dade County, WPEC reported. Jachles said Ponce lived in Miami-Dade.