WOBURN, Mass. (WHDH) — A construction worker was crushed to death Tuesday after being trapped under a building in Woburn, officials said.
Firefighters responded around 11:45 a.m. to a construction site behind the Woburn Public Library on Pleasant Street for a report of a worker who was pinned under the building.
Crews frantically worked to rescue the worker, who was somehow crushed and pronounced dead at the scene.
Sources told 7’s Steve Cooper that the worker was killed instantly when a 2,000-pound boulder fell and landed on top of him. The victim’s name is not being released, but sources said the individual is a 32-year-old man from Dunbarton, New Hampshire.
Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin said the man, a subcontractor for Schnabel Foundation Company, was working beneath the library on a multi-million dollar renovation project when he was crushed to death. Crews from WL French were also working at the scene.
“One of the subcontractors of our contractor was crushed under the building,” Galvin said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Massachusetts State Police, along with Woburn police detectives, are working determine what led up to what is being called a “tragic accident.”
“WL French Excavating Corporation is deeply saddened to learn of this young man’s passing and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and Schnabel Foundation,” the company said in a statement.
Construction on the library will not resume until investigators can determine what went wrong.
An investigation is underway.
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