SWAMPSCOTT, MASS. (WHDH) - A worker was killed in Swampscott on Monday in what authorities are calling an industrial accident at a local quarry.
State and local investigators were called to the Swampscott Quarry in the early afternoon after what started as a report of a crane collapse turned into an effort to recover the body of an employee.
What exactly happened remained under investigation as of 4 p.m., as efforts to recover the victim continued, with a technical rescue team and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner called in to assist.
“We got [the call] as a crane collapse – that’s not the case,” said Swampscott Fire Chief Graham Archer. “Honestly, we haven’t pieced together exactly what happened yet.”
“It’s a really tragic call – it’s just a worker that got up and went out to work today and he expected to get back home at the end of the day and it didn’t happen,” Archer added.
Throughout the afternoon, authorities could be seen entering and leaving the site owned by Aggregate Industries as they continued to investigate. All work was suspended as state officials, local police and firefighters continued to survey the scene.
“We’re obviously deeply saddened about what happened today – the safety of our employees and contractors in the communities in which we live and work are our top priority,” a representative for Aggregate Industries told 7NEWS.
In an update provided by the Swampscott Police Department later in the afternoon, officials said police were first contacted about the accident around 1 p.m., initially receiving a 911 call that reported a “problem in a rock crusher suspended above a quarry.”
“The worker was pronounced deceased at the scene. The victim’s identification is being withheld pending notification of next of kin,” a statement from the police department read. “The death is being investigated by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective Unit, Swampscott Police and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.”
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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