HAVERHILL, MASS. (WHDH) – Authorities are investigating after one MassDOT contract worker was killed and a second was seriously injured in an accident at a bridge construction site on Interstate 495 in Haverhill on Wednesday, officials said.
Troopers responding to a bridge construction project on Bank Road pronounced one person dead and called in a medical helicopter to transport a second victim, a 46-year-old man, to Lahey Hospital in Burlington, according to Carrie Kimball, a spokeswoman for the Essex District Attorney’s Office.
The worker who died was identified as a 44-year-old man from Manchester, New Hampshire. His name has not been released.
A preliminary investigation suggests the workers fell about 50 feet from the bucket of a lift truck as they were working on a bridge over the Merrimack River and landed on a barge, according to state police.
There was no immediate word on the second worker’s condition.
Investigators have since ruled out foul play.
“The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will be cooperating fully with OSHA and other authorities in determining what occurred to lead to this tragedy,” a MassDOT spokesperson said in a statement.
The $110 million project, which has since been placed on hold until further notice, involves removing and replacing the bridge carrying northbound and southbound lanes of I-495 over the Merrimack River.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS for updates online and on-air.
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