Driver arrested; 6 students killed in Tennessee school bus crash
Multiple deaths were reported in an elementary school bus crash in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Monday, Nov. 21, 2016.
Updated 2 hrs 26 mins ago
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A 24-year-old man has been arrested and charged following a school bus crash in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that killed at least six children.
Johnthony Walker was arrested and charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving, according to Chattanooga police Chief Fred Fletcher.
Fletcher said the crash was "every public safety professional's worst nightmare."
The bus was carrying 35 children from Woodmore Elementary, students in kindergarten through fifth grade, when it crashed about 3:30 p.m., turned on its side and wrapped around a tree.
Fletcher said police interviewed the bus driver to determine what happened and told reporters later that investigators were looking at speed "very, very strongly" as a factor. The bus was the only vehicle involved but the crash scene covers a significant area, he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that a team would be heading to Chattanooga on Tuesday morning to investigate.
Twenty-three students were taken to hospitals, Fletcher said, but he did not have information about the extent of their injuries. Media reported it took about two hours to get the last children off the bus.
Television stations reported that people lined up to donate blood and some donors were asked to make appointments for Tuesday.
Kirk Kelly, interim superintendent for Hamilton County schools, said classes would be held on Tuesday, with counselors available for students and staff.
Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston told media outlets that five people died at the scene and one died at the hospital. Melydia Clewell, the district attorney's spokeswoman, confirmed the number.
Chattanooga police Assistant Chief Tracy Arnold said officials would not identify the students who died, or their ages, until parents were notified.
"Our hearts go out, as well as the hearts of all these people behind me, to the families, the neighborhood, the school, for all the people involved in this, we assure you we are doing everything we can," Fletcher said.
At the state Capitol in Nashville, Gov. Bill Haslam called the crash "a tragic event" and offered assistance.
"We're going to do everything we can to assist in any way," Haslam said. "It's a sad situation anytime there's a school bus with children involved, which there is in this case."
Worker, 21, dies after fall in Pequannock after improper use of the forklift
Michael Izzo , @MIzzoDR 2:39 p.m. EST November 21, 2016
A worker was fatally injured last week following a fall from a forklift at a Pequannock construction site, police said.
At about 1:27 p.m. Friday, officers responded Route 23 South at the site of the under-construction Castle banquet hall for a report of an injured worker, Capt. Christopher DePuyt said.
While officers were responding, dispatch was advised that medical assistance was not needed as coworkers were taking the injured man to Chilton Medical Center, DePuyt said.
The man, 21, from Belleville, was pronounced dead in the Chilton Emergency Room at 1:46 p.m., DePuyt said.
Back at The Castle, officers secured the accident site and contacted the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration, DePuyt said. The investigation was then turned over to OSHA.
A preliminary investigation indicated the 21-year-old victim was being lowered to the ground by a forklift at the time of the accident when the machine suffered a mechanical failure, causing the forklift attachment to detach from the rest of the unit, DePuyt said.
The 21-year-old – who was standing on a wooden pallet on the end of the forklift at the time – then fell 40 feet to the ground, suffering fatal injuries, DePuyt said.
The workers on site were transporting a ladder off the structure to the ground at the time of the accident and OSHA said that was not a proper use of the forklift.The worker was not identified by name Monday and OSHA’s investigation is ongoing.
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By Justin Zaremba | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author
on November 21, 2016 at 10:23 AM, updated November 21, 2016 at 3:45 PM
PEQUANNOCK — A 21-year-old Belleville man died Friday after he fell from the end of a forklift at the construction site for The Castle banquet hall on Route 23, police said.
The worker was standing on a wooden pallet on the fork end of the forklift when an apparent mechanical failure occurred and the fork end detached, causing the man to plummet about 40 feet, Pequannock Capt. Christopher DePuyt said.
Township police were notified of the incident at about 1:27 p.m. and were told medical assistance wasn't needed because the worker was transported by co-workers to Chilton Medical Center, DePuyt said.
The man was pronounced dead at the hospital's emergency department at 1:46 p.m.
Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, according to OSHA.
Workers were in the process of removing a ladder off of the structure to the ground when the mechanical failure occurred, DePuyt said.
DePuyt said the investigation has been turned over to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA investigators, he said, indicated the way in which the forklift was used during this incident was improper.
The Castle is an 85,000-square-foot banquet hall currently under construction by Badanco Holding Company. Messages placed to Badanco Holding Company on Monday morning haven't yet been returned.
Massachusetts construction worker killed after saw hits him in throat
Published November 21, 2016
Associated Press
Authorities have identified a construction worker who was killed in Massachusetts when a power saw he was using kicked back and hit him in the throat.
The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office says 28-year-old Jason Sanderson, of Carver, and another worker had been excavating an underground water line in a trench when the incident happened Saturday afternoon in Duxbury.
Investigators say they believe the chop saw he was using "became bound" and jolted back at him, making contact with his neck.
Sanderson was pronounced dead at a hospital. Authorities say foul play is not suspected.
The name of the company Sanderson was working for hasn't been released. The incident is being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Kickback happens when the wood hits the back of the blade or the wood binds. Common causes of kickback are:
- the kerf closes behind the cut pinching the blade
- a board is warped, cupped, twisted, etc and binds against the blade
- the side of the wood against the table saw fence isn't straight
- the blade isn't parallel to the fence
- a cross cut is made without properly supporting the board and it twists into the blade
- a cut-off gets trapped between blade and fence.
In
each case, the velocity of the spinning blade can lift the board and
send it flying. A piece of wood can fly so hard that can kill a worker, as it happened in this case.
Kickback
is over before you are even aware it happened, so don't think you can
react in time to pull your hand out of the way. You can't.
Here are some tips to prevent getting injured by saw kickback on a table saw:
- The
best way of preventing kickback is to use a riving knife or splitter
and an anti-kickback device on your table saw. The riving knife and
splitter will hold the kerf open behind the blade so the wood can't
close on the cut.
- Don't pull the workpiece from the back side
of the table saw, a kickback can yank your hand right into the
blade. People do serious injury to their hands when the blade grabs the
board pulling it and their hand into the blade.
- Don't use the
fence when cross cutting narrow stock. There isn't enough wood against
the fence to control the cut. Instead use the miter gauge to push the
wood and leave your table saw fence to the side.
- Kickback often
occurs when you're cutting large sheets of material. If you let the
sheet sag down, the kerf can close and pinch the blade as you near the
end of the cut.
- Keep your hands and body to one side of the line of cut.
- When
using portable saws always maintain a firm grip on the saw and don't
stretch so far over the workpiece that you're left in an awkward,
unbalanced position.
- Make sure your wood is flat and the side against the fence is straight.
- Keep your blade parallel to the fence.
- Never try to free hand a cut.
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DUXBURY – A 28-year-old construction worker from Carver died Saturday after a power saw kicked back, hitting him in the throat.
The Plymouth County district attorney’s office on Sunday identified the worker as Jason Sanderson.
The fire department received a report at about 2:15 p.m. of a construction worker suffering from serious injuries at 907 Tremont St. The residential construction site where two homes are being built is about a mile from Duxbury Fire Headquarters.
When first responder arrived they found Sanderson suffering from a severe neck wound.
“Investigators believe that Sanderson and another worker were down in a hole cutting a water pipe when the circular chop saw that Sanderson was using became bound and kicked back, striking him in the neck,” according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.
A medical helicopter was requested but was not available. Lifesaving efforts were attempted at the scene before Sanderson was rush by ambulance to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth, where he died.
Duxbury Police notified The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and state troopers assigned to the Plymouth County district attorney’s. Foul play is not suspected.
Duxbury police on Sunday deferred to the federal agency and Duxbury Fire Department. A captain with the fire department directed inquires to the department’s public information officer, who could not be reached Sunday.
OSHA investigating death of Jonathan Sprinkle at Kimble landfill
Tuesday Posted Nov 15, 2016 at 7:58 AM
Share By Nancy Molnar Times-Reporter staff writer
DOVER, PA - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating an accident that killed a 62-year-old New Philadelphia man at the Kimble Sanitary Landfill on Thursday.
"We have a compliance officer on site conducting the inspection," said David Wilson, acting area director of the OSHA Columbus area office, on Monday. "We just opened the inspection this morning."
Tuscarawas County Sheriff Walt Wilson said shortly after the incident that a heavy-equipment operator backed over Jonathan W. Sprinkle, who worked on the ground assisting trucks unloading at the landfill. The operator of the front-end loader checked his mirrors before backing the equipment that emits beeps when running in reverse, according to Wilson.
Sprinkle's obituary said he had worked 18 years for the Kimble companies.
"Kimble Company is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of one of its valued employees on November 10, 2016," Kimble Co. general counsel Nathan D. Vaughan said in a prepared statement.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased," he wrote in an email to The Times-Reporter. "Out of respect for the family and those involved we are not releasing any additional details of this incident and are working closely with authorities who are reviewing the matter."
Sprinkle's death is not the first to occur at a Kimble business.
OSHA fined Kimble Clay & Limestone $4,000 for a 2003 accident that killed Lorin H. Beaber, 52, of Mineral City.
An OSHA report on the incident said the deceased, a forklift operator, picked up a bank of oxygen cylinders to load onto a flatbed truck. He set the emergency brake, and dismounted from the forklift while it was still running, with the load suspended in the air. He was found pinned between the load and the truck. He was asphyxiated.
The investigation of the 2003 incident showed that Beaber did not lower the forks prior to dismounting. It also found that the forklift was defective because the parking brake did not work and the tilt boom mast drifted under the load.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2004 in Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court by the family of the deceased against the company was dismissed at the heirs' request the following year.
Kimble Clay & Limestone and Kimble Sanitary Landfill share the same address at 3596 State Route 39 NW in Dover Township.
The company reached an out-of-court settlement in a case in which one of its trucks collided with a Garrettsville man's vehicle on State Route 8 in Stow in 2013. The estate of Daniel L. Vincent, who died shortly after the crash, charged that the truck from J & J Refuse and Kimble Recycling & Disposal had mismatched brakes and was driven by an operator whose driving record had not been adequately investigated by the business.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 71 fatalities occurred in the waste management and remediation sector of the economy in 2014, the most recent year for which figures were listed. Deaths totaled 63 in 2013, 65 in 2012 and 75 in 2011.
Woman killed in I-295 crash with tractor trailer, police say
By Don E. Woods | For NJ.com
updated November 19, 2016 at 11:44 AM
CHERRY HILL, NJ – A woman died after her car collided with a tractor trailer on Route 295, according to New Jersey State Police.
The woman's name was released as of Saturday morning, pending the notification of her family, said Trooper Alejandro Goez. The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured in the crash.
The crash occurred at 4:22 a.m. in the southbound lane of Route 295 around milepost 34 in Cherry Hill between a tractor trailer and a Nissan Maxima. The driver of the Nissan was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she was pronounced dead.
According to 6ABC, the tractor trailer was parked on the shoulder of Route 295 when the Nissan hit it from behind.
New Jersey State Police closed down the right lane during their investigation and it was not reopened until 8 a.m.
Most likely this female driver was drunk. The majority of the drunk driving accidents occur during the a.m. hours like this one under-riding collision.
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Saturday, November 19, 2016 03:54PM
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (WPVI) -- A woman is dead after her car collided with a tractor-trailer in South Jersey.
The accident happened around 4:30 a.m. Saturday in the southbound lanes of Route 295 in Cherry Hill.
Police say her car slammed into the back of the parked big rig. The truck was sitting in the shoulder of the freeway.
It took rescue crews nearly a half hour to free the woman from the wreckage.
She was rushed to Cooper University Hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
The crash remains under investigation.
