Worker crushed at work site
MANHATTAN, N.Y. — A man working at a construction site died tragically when a piece of the crane near which he worked fell on him. The worker was 34-years-old and hailed from Brooklyn. According to the Daily News, the man was crushed by a 7.5-ton counterweight that fell. The man who died was part of a crew assembling the crane around 3:15 a.m. in the SoHo section of Manhattan. Medical rescuers declared the man dead at the scene of the accident. Several agencies have opened investigations into the incident including the Occupation Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the Department of Buildings for New York City. A final report has not been released at this time, and the matter remains under investigation.
The City’s Department of Buildings issued an immediate stop-work order after the gruesome event that occurred early Saturday morning. The Department of Buildings ordered crews to dismantle the crane immediately. Brooklyn News 12 reported that the scene of the accident was near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel on Varick Street. Workers started assembling the crane in that area and would maneuver the crane into place on Broome Street when the assembly was complete.
One witness said that his co-worker was split in half as a result of being struck by the falling counterweight. Another account of the incident suggested that the man who died heroically pushed a coworker out of the path of the falling equipment. Reports indicate that two other workers suffered minor injuries in the fatal mishap.
The Brooklyn construction worker who died was reportedly an Army veteran who severed tours overseas. He leaves behind a fiancé and a five-month-old child.
The man who died on Saturday was the third construction worker who died in New York within one week. One worker perished when he fell from a 13-story roof, and another died when debris from an apartment building under renovation fell on him.
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