WORKER KILLED BY TRENCH COLLAPSE DURING THE EXCAVATION OF A NEW ROAD IN ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

A still from KTVA footage shows police at the scene of the collapse.

JUNE 23, 2015

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

A worker was killed last week when a trench collapsed during the excavation of a new road in South Anchorage, Alaska.

According to a report from KTVA TV, 23-year-old Samuel Adam Morgan was killed Tuesday when the trench collapsed on top of him.

The trench measured 7 feet deep and 15 feet across, according to a report from Alaska Dispatch News. The News reports Morgan was working on the installation of a sewer line when the collapse occurred.

Anchorage Police Department Sgt. Mark Huelskoetter told ADN, Morgan’s co-workers “quickly tried to extricate him and once they got him out his injuries were just too severe and he died on scene.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the collapse.

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Police ID man killed in South Anchorage construction accident

By KTVA CBS 11 News 2:00 PM June 16, 2015 

Updated Wednesday, June 17 at 5:11 p.m.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

A construction worker died in South Anchorage Tuesday afternoon after a trench caved in on him, authorities say.

Samuel Adam Morgan, 23, had been pulled from the trench near the intersection of King Street and West 91st Avenue when the Anchorage Police Department arrived shortly after 1 p.m., according to Sgt. Mark Huelskoetter. 

He was declared dead at the scene.

“He had been working on a sewer pipe in a trench that measured roughly 7 feet deep by 15 feet across when it collapsed and buried him”, said APD Sgt. Mark Huelskoetter. 

“The crew is very shaken up at this point,” Huelskoetter said.

His co-workers "quickly tried to extricate him and once they got him out his injuries were just too severe and he died on scene," Huelskoetter said.

Morgan, employed by Hartman Construction and Equipment Inc., was helping excavate a new road when the trench collapsed, authorities say.

The Anchorage Fire Department also responded to the accident. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will work alongside APD to conduct an investigation.

Morgan’s next of kin have been notified.

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CONSTRUCTION WORKER DIED AFTER HE FELL INTO NEW HAVEN HARBOR TUESDAY WHILE WORKING ON A NEW DOCK FOR THE MAGELLAN TERMINAL IN CONNECTICUT

Emergency crews clear the scene Tuesday morning following a water rescue. Wes Duplantier — New Haven Register

JUNE 17, 2015

NEW HAVEN, CT

The construction worker who fell into New Haven Harbor Tuesday while working on a new dock for the Magellan Terminal has died.

William Klemenz, 60, died at 6:33 p.m. Tuesday, according to Mark D’Antonio, a spokesman for Yale-New Haven Hospital.

The Higganum man, according to workers, had been treated for brain cancer a year and a half ago and may have suffered a medical emergency that caused him to fall. Klemenz was an employee of Blakeslee Arpaia Chapman, construction engineers, and was a member of the carpenters union for the past 36 years.

The death is being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and an autopsy will be performed.

Robert Koslowski, the OSHA area director out of Bridgeport, said the coroner’s report is key to the investigation.

“It can take anywhere from six to eight weeks,” he said. A compliance officer was on the scene Wednesday morning.

Koslowski said other reports Tuesday night that Klemenz was working on a fuel line were incorrect.

Klemenz had returned to dock work in the last few months after recovering from his illness, associates said. Before that he was working in the Blakeslee Arpaia Chapman yard in Branford.

“He was a very talented guy and was well liked,” a union spokesman, who did not want to be named, said of Klemenz. “He will be missed.”

A spokesman for Blakeslee Arpaia Chapman did not immediately return requests for comment.

Klemenz reportedly was only in the water for a very short time when he was pulled out by his co-workers, who began to give him CPR. He was assisting a welder in the front of the barge, handing him metal rods, when he disappeared, according to a union worker. 

Klemenz was said to be wearing a safety vest when the accident occurred around 15 feet from the shore. 

The longtime worker reportedly was found face down in the water. Dock workers often wear very heavy toolbelts while on the job, according to a worker.

Fire Department personnel took over emergency treatment for Klemenz when they arrived on the accident scene around 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Grief counselors are available to the crew members, according to the union.

“The crew was very close,” a union spokesman said.

Magellan issued a statement on the incident Tuesday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the individual involved and his family,” it read.

Police said in a statement that the department was not involved in the water rescue. “There is nothing to suggest foul play or anything that’s raised suspicion about the man’s fall. Police were informed it was likely a medical condition that led to this tragic accident,” the statement said.