Employees Killed in Work Accidents Across Multiple States 

Montgomery, MN (WorkersCompensation.com) – A food worker died in a warehouse accident last week, one of several industrial accident that took the lives of workers over the past few weeks.  

The worker, an employee at the Seneca Foods plant near Montgomery, Minn., died after being trapped by “falling items” in the warehouse, police said. Officials said 58-year-old Jose Luis Alvarado died on the scene on October 5 around 3:30 a.m.  

State OSHA officials are investigating the incident after police said the man was struck by something that fell on him, killing him. It’s the second workplace death in southern Minnesota in just over a month, officials said. In late August, Austin Bret Trebesch, 27, from Sleepy Eye, Minn., died after he was transported to the Sleepy Eye Medical Center after a “work-related farm implement accident,” Brown County Sheriff’s Office.  

The sheriff’s office said it received multiple 911 calls from Miller Sellner Implement on Highway 4. Trebesch was treated at the scene before being transported to the hospital where he later died. That incident is also under investigation by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, officials said.  

On Oct. 2, a mining company employee died after being crushed to death in an incident involving a shuttle car at a Hollsopple, Pa.  

LCT Energy said in a statement that the man had gotten trapped between the shuttle car and one of the mine’s interior walls at the Maple Springs Mine. Underground work crews worked to assist the man, assessed his condition and led the efforts to rescue him and return him to the surface. However, the man, 37-year-old Brandon Frederick, sustained multiple blunt force injuries and died at the scene.  

“The entire LCT family is deeply saddened by this terrible accident and our thoughts and prayers are with the family members and friends most affected by this tragedy,” LCT Energy said in a statement Oct. 3. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has ordered operators of the Conemaugh Township mine to cease operations in section of the mine where the accident happened. Inspectors are investigating the death and will be conducting their analysis in conjunction with a “separate but coordinated investigation” by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.  

The same mine was the site of another miner death in March 2022 when scoop operator Paul Springer, 44, died after being hit by a falling boulder while working underground. Federal investigators found that miners were not able to tell that the boulder was at risk of falling but ordered the company to modify its roof control plan.  

On Oct. 2, an employee at Six Flags Over Georgia was killed in an automobile accident at the park. 

Officials said Andrea Crook, 43, was killed when she was ejected from a cargo van and hit her head on pavement on one of the park’s employee-only access roads.  

Cobb County first responders and park rescue personnel treated Crook onsite and later transported her to Grady Memorial Hospital. However, Crook died at the hospital from “severe, life-threatening” injuries, officials said.  

According to WSB-TV, Crook was one of several employees who were in the back of a 2004 Ford Cargo van when the accident happened. The van, driven by Asia Hendricks, 27, also carried two minors. Initial investigations found that Crook fell out of the rear doors of the van when it drove through a left uphill curve.  

"It's a cargo van, so there are no seats back there,” Cobb County Police Sgt. Wayne Delk told Fox 5 Atlanta. “At some point, making a maneuver in the park, one of the passengers was ejected from the van and sustained serious severe head trauma.”  

It was not clear if the driver of the van will face charges, but police are looking into the incident, officials said.  

"Investigators are looking at several different factors to determine what charges would be appropriate, but yes there's definitely a potential for charges," Delk said. 

The employees were working at the park’s Fright Fest, a Halloween themed event. One of the employees told Fox 5 that moving employees via automobile was common practice.  

"The actors were always transported in the vans because they don't want actors in makeup going through different parts of the park, so they go behind the scenes," the employee told the outlet.  

The park said it was providing support to other employees in a statement.  

"Our hearts and our thoughts are extended to the family of the employee as well as all those impacted by this tragic automobile accident; we are heartbroken," Six Flags Over Georgia Park President Dave Zellner told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Immediate support is being provided to those affected by the accident." 

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