A 62-year-old construction worker was struck and killed by the bucket of an excavator in northwest Indiana Wednesday when the clothing of the machine’s operator became stuck on a lever, police said.
Police responded to the site near Lakeshore Drive and Pennsylvania Avenue in Hobart where workers from a local company were replacing sewer lines. Three workers, one operating the excavator, another inside a hole and a third on the ground were on the scene, police said. The worker in the excavator had turned to talk to someone before the accident occurred, police said.
“The operator of the excavator turned back to situate himself in the seat when a piece of his clothing caught a lever, which controlled the bucket on the excavator,” Hobart police said in a news release. “The bucket, which was positioned inside of the hole, moved forward and pinned the crew member against the wall."
The man struck by the bucket was pronounced dead on the scene by the Lake County Coroner's Office.
He was from South Haven, police said, and an autopsy was scheduled to determine a manner of death.
The worker operating the excavator did not display any signs of intoxication or impairment, police said.
The dead worker’s family had not yet been notified and an investigation was ongoing.
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CHICAGO (CBS) — Police in Northwest Indiana say a 62-year-old worker was killed Wednesday afternoon in a construction accident.
Around noon, Hobart Police received a call. Lt. James Gonzales says a crew was working at Pennsylvania Street and Lake Shore Drive, using an excavator to replace sewer lines.
“The worker inside the excavator had turned to communicate with a worker on the ground, and when he turned back to get situated back into his seat, the joystick that controls the bucket got caught on his pants.”
The bucket, which was positioned inside of the hole, moved forward and pinned the crew worker against the wall, police said.
The victim was pronounced dead on the scene by the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
According to a release from the Hobart Police Dept., the operator of the excavator was checked at the scene for signs of intoxication or impairment; none were found.
Lt. Gonzales says this is still an open death investigation, but appears by all accounts to have been an accident.
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HOBART, IL - A construction worker was killed in Hobart Wednesday afternoon while working on replacing sewer lines near Lake George. An investigation continues into the workplace accident that claimed the life a 62-year-old man who lived in South Haven.
Hobart police responded to Lakeshore Drive and Pennsylvania Avenue around noon and spoke to a construction crew about the incident, according to a report from the Northwest Indiana Gazette. Crew members told police that the operator of an excavator had a piece of clothing caught on a lever that controlled the bucket on the excavator while he turned back to situate himself in the seat. The action caused the bucket to move forward and "pinned the crew member against the wall," according to the report.
Firefighters worked at the scene to recover the victim, who was pronounced dead immediately by the Lake County Coroner. Police said the victim showed no signs of intoxication or impairment and that the investigation will continue once autopsy results are known.