Two men were rescued after dangling on ropes eight to nine storeys above the ground when one side of their swing-stage scaffold collapsed while they were doing work on a downtown Calgary highrise.

Fire crews reached the first man just after 11 a.m. MT in a rescue basket.

Calgary Fire Department spokesperson Jayson Doyscher said they don’t know at this stage of the investigation what caused one side of the suspended platform to collapse at the highrise on at Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street S.

A man is wheeled away on a stretcher after being rescued from a Calgary highrise when one side of the scaffold he was working on gave way. (Terri Trembath/CBC)

Doyscher said crews had to make sure any rigging holding the dangling workers in place was secure before beginning the rescue.

"They were able to put a second line over for our crews to get over to the patients," Doyscher said.

"Once they reached that location, they just ran into some issues from the type of the building itself, so we had to utilize one of our Broncos in order to help facilitate the rescue."

Gathering crowds applauded as the first worker was brought to the ground. He then walked to a stretcher and was taken inside the building.

Crews reached the second worker about 30 minutes later. He gave a thumbs-up to onlookers as he was being loaded into an ambulance.