A flagger died Friday in Happy Valley after deputies say he was accidentally run over by a dump truck while a crew was in the area working to repair a natural gas leak.
The crash was reported about 4:10 p.m. near Southeast 132nd Avenue and Rose Meadow Drive. The 71-year-old flagger was helping the driver move a stalled dump truck out of the road when he was struck, said Deputy Robbie Nashif, a Clackamas County sheriff's spokesman.
The dump truck driver put the truck in neutral and allowed the truck to roll backward as the flagger was behind helping direct where it should go, the deputy said.
The truck hit the flagger and then ran him over, Nashif said. The worker died at the scene.
The driver remained at the scene and an investigation is ongoing. No arrests have been made. The flagger and the driver aren't employees with Northwest Natural Gas, but were assisting crews with traffic and other aid, Nashif said.
It's at least the third crash leading to the death of a worker on an Oregon road since May.
Pablo Dominguez-Amezcua, 48, of Portland was killed May 23 when a driver plowed through a construction zone near Southeast 122nd Avenue and Yoakum Lane in Happy Valley, the sheriff's office said. The crash also injured his co-workers Preston Stucky, 26, and William Griffin, 62.
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HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. – A 71-year-old construction crew worker was hit and killed by a dump truck that was experiencing mechanical issues Friday afternoon in Happy Valley.
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said no outside vehicles were involved and the crash "occurred as a result of a construction related accident."
The flagger was part of a construction crew assisting Northwest Natural Gas, which was fixing a gas leak near Southeast 132nd Avenue and Rose Meadow Drive. The flagger was not immediately identified.
The driver of the dump truck that had mechanical issues stayed at the scene and was heartbroken over the accident, the sheriff's office said. The collision occurred shortly after 4 p.m.
Life Flight was initially called but the worker died at the scene.
Roads in the area of the gas leak will be closed as crews work to finish repairs.