Disney worker died after utility cart fell on him, sheriff's report says
A Walt Disney World employee was killed in an accident, the company confirmed on Monday.
Gabrielle Russon and Michael Williams
Contact Reporters Orlando Sentinel
A Walt Disney World worker was killed Monday when the utility cart he was working on jumped a curb, ran into chainlink fence, then fell on him, an Orange County Sheriff’s Office report revealed Tuesday.
The accident killed Juan Alberto Ojeda, 33, of Kissimmee, who had been working on the cart’s battery. He was later declared dead at the scene, a backstage area used by Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort for vehicle maintenance.
Another employee, Danny Vazquez, who was showing a new hire around, witnessed the accident from 20 yards away. Vazquez heard “a screeching sound and turned to see a Toro utility vehicle drive up onto a curb” and travel several feet up the fence before falling on top of him, the report said.
Ojeda asked Vazquez to back the red cart off him and then said he couldn’t breathe before he fell unconscious, the report said.
Vazquez estimated the cart drove 6 feet into the fence before coming back down on the ground on top of Ojeda. The new hire, Josh Willner, estimated it was closer to 3 feet, the report said.
Willner and Vazquez tried to lift the cart off Ojeda but it was too heavy, and they feared hurting him even more if they drove it, according to the report.
Disney declined to comment on the report Tuesday, other than to say the accident happened in a non-public area.
The federal Occupational and Safety Health Administration was investigating as well but would not release details Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a second accident hours later on the theme park property left another Disney employee injured, officials said.
The accident was at about 10:30 p.m. at 2901 Osceola Parkway — the address for Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge — sheriff’s spokeswoman Deputy Ingrid Tejada-Monforte said.
A man had fallen and injured himself before calling 911, according to the sheriff’s office. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
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Walt Disney World Cast Member Juan Alberto Ojeda, 33, was killed on Monday after he became trapped under a utility vehicle he was working on, according to a report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The report revealed that the utility cart Ojeda was working on drove onto the curb, ran into a chain link fence and fell on top of him. Ojeda was working on the cart’s battery when he died at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, according to the report.
Two witnesses, Cast Member Danny Vazquez and new hire Josh Willner, told police they saw the accident happen from about 20 yards away. Vazquez told authorities he was showing Willner around the facility when he heard “a screeching sound and turned to see a Toro utility vehicle drive up onto a curb and into a chain link fence.” The men said they saw the vehicle move six feet up the fence before falling on top of Ojeda.
Vazquez said he was asked by Ojeda to move the cart off of him, but refused out of fear he would further injur Ojeda. The 33-year-old said he couldn’t breathe before he fell unconscious, according to the report. Willner said the cart was still running and that he turned off the vehicle, but left the keys in the ignition.
SOURCE: Newsweek