Employees Die in Separate Accidents Across the Country

Barryville, NY (WorkersCompensation.com) – Several workers are dead this week after succumbing to their injuries in on the job accidents. 

In Barryville, New York, an employee is dead after being hit by mud mats. 

Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty identified the worker as 21-year-old Aaron Terpstra, and employee of N.C. Gilbert Tree Service, a contractor for New York State Electric and Gas Corporation. 

Officials said Terpstra was stacking mud mats on Feb. 23 after trimming trees at the Kittatinny Campgrounds. Mud mats are large, 50- to 100-pound mats used for trucks to park on in muddy areas so the trucks don’t sink in. According to police reports several of the mats slipped off of the cherry picker he was stacking them into and fell on him. Terpstra went into cardiac arrest when he was pulled from under the mats. 

He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Officials said investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration are looking into the fatal accident. 

In Nanuet, New York, a sanitation worker was killed when he and another worker were hit by a car while picking up trach cans. 

Officials said Estive Bustos Cevallos and another worker were hit around 6 a.m. on Feb. 25. Officers found Ceballos lying unresponsive in the road, while his co-worker was seated on a nearby curb suffering from pain and breathing difficulties. 

The driver had fled the scene. The garbage truck driver told officers he heard a loud collision when the men were hit. 

Both victims were initially treated by officers before being transported to nearby hospitals. Ceballos died on Sunday. 

Police arrested 29-year-old Christain Lemus-Vasquez and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident with serious injury. 

In Kansas City, one city worker was killed and another two were seriously injured when a garbage truck overturned and caught on fire. 

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said during a press conference that the garbage truck was at the base of an exit ramp when it turned over, striking a concrete barrier between eastbound and westbound Front Street. Once it overturned, it caught fire, Lucas said. 

Preliminary investigations found that the driver lost control of the truck before it overturned. The three member crew was inside of the truck when it caught fire. One of the crew members was killed in the crash, officials said. The driver and another passenger were taken to a nearby hospital – one was listed in critical condition, the other in serious condition. 

“Every day we talk about the very serious work that our employees go out and do and that includes every part of our city operations,” Lucas said. “We are heartbroken today for our employee who lost their life. We are certainly praying for our other employees and their families.” 

The city’s public works director, Michael Shaw, said he’s worked for the city for 23 years and never seen a fatality in the department. 

In Blackman Township, Michigan, a construction worker was killed while working on a construction project on I-94. 

Authorities said crews with Dan’s Excavating were working on the ramp from westbound I-94 when one of the construction workers was run over by a bulldozer. The construction worker was declared dead at the scene. 

Officials identified the deceased worker as Randy Gerald Elliott, 35, of Albion Township. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating the incident. 

In Fort Ann, New York, a worker clearing tree branches near a road was struck by a passing motorist and killed Tuesday. 

Washington County, New York, sheriff’s officers responded to a report of a car-pedestrian accident with serious injury around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday. Upon arrival, they found Nicholas Montello, 19, or Argyle. Montello, officials said, had been picking up fallen branches in and around the roadway when he was hit by a car. Montello was taken to Glens Falls Hospital where he was pronounced dead. 

Police identified the driver as Kecia Freiberger, 56, of Fort Ann. The accident remains under investigation, officials said. 

In Shelby, Ind., a construction worker died Sunday afternoon after becoming trapped in a ditch that had collapsed. 

Indianapolis Fire officials said that workers from HIS Contractors had dug a 40-foot long by 6-foot wide hole near the Shelby and Marion county line. According to reports, the project supervisor was standing on the edge of the trench when the ground collapsed under him. The supervisor fell into the hole, and mud and debris fell in on top of him. 

Although several workers jumped in and tried to rescue him, they were unable to dig him out because of the soil being unstable. Responding firefighters worked for several hours and found the man about 19 feet into the trench. Officials said they had difficulty removing compacted clay from around the man because water continued to fill the hole, compressing the sole. 

Crews used a Greenfield Wastewater Utility vacuum truck to remove the dirt and water from the ditch and retrieve the man’s body. 

And in Madison, Wisconsin, a worker died after being electrocute while trimming a tree. 

According to an incident report from the Madison Police Department, crews were working trimming trees at the intersection of West Broadway and Hoboken Road. Officials said a branch got stuck on a power line. 

Officials said a worker pulled on the branch, but instead of freeing the power line, the branch snapped the line. The snapped wire then hit the company vehicle under the tree, on which a 38-year-old worker was leaning. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials have not released the name of the victim.

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