2 construction workers electrocuted in Wilmington identified
Posted: September 28, 2015
By: WECT Staff
Two men were electrocuted in Wilmington Monday. (Source: Raycom Media)
(Source: WECT)
(Source: WECT)(Source: WECT) WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) -
Officials have identified the two construction workers who died after being electrocuted in Wilmington Monday morning.
According to Chief David Hines with the Wilmington Fire Department, crews responded to the 500 block of Dogwood Lane just before 8:00 a.m.
Firefighters arrived and found a track hoe that came into contact with a power line. Hines said the boom of the track hoe was still touching the power line when emergency officials arrived on scene. Duke Energy officials were contacted to de-energize the line.
Hines said two nearby construction workers on the ground were shocked during the incident and later died.
According to Cathryn Lindsay, spokesperson for the Wilmington Police Department, James Lemuel Williams, 55, of Richlands and Manuel Melendez Flores, 49, of Jacksonville were killed in the incident.
The operator of the track hoe was uninjured.
According to Malissa Talbert, spokesperson for the City of Wilmington, the two construction workers were not city employees, but were working for East Coast Contracting. The city contracted the company to construct drainage improvements in the Wisteria and Clearbrook areas.
The Wilmington Police Department is investigating.
