(Photo: Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader)
Worker injured by toppled 20-ton concrete slab
Katie Nelson, kenelson@argusleader.com
3:19 p.m. CDT August 1, 2016
Emergency crews respond to a structure collapse near W. Madison Street and N. Ebenezer Avenue on Monday. Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader
A construction worker was injured after a gust of wind caused a 20-ton concrete panel to fall on him Monday morning.
Thirty-two pre-cast concrete panels collapsed onto the construction site shortly after 11 a.m., one of them landing on the worker, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Travis Thom said.
It took firefighters about 45 minutes to free the man, who had been working on an elevated platform at the time of the accident. He was conscious the entire time and was taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue spokesman Brad Goodroad said.
"His legs were crushed pretty bad," Goodroad said, adding that the panel weighed approximately 40,000 pounds.
Goodroad said the wind was especially strong at the time and may have caused the panels to fall. He did not know the name of the company that owns the property where the accident occurred.