A construction worker lost his life on Stadium Drive, one mile south of New Poag Road in Edwardsville, Wednesday afternoon when a piece of equipment rolled over him, a Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville spokesperson said.
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A spokesperson for the SIUE Communications Department said the person was a Keller Construction worker. He said they were not sure yet how the incident occurred and that it was being investigated by law enforcement at the scene.
“We know a piece of equipment rolled on the person, but we don’t know how,” the SIUE spokesperson said. “This is Keller’s project.”
Rescue personnel were called to the scene at 3:30 p.m. and CPR was attempted, but to no avail. Apparently, the worker was on the project for Keller Construction Co. and improving a road to an archaeological dig. The Madison County Coroner’s office was called to the scene after CPR and other attempts to save the person’s life failed about 4 p.m.
The Madison County Coroner’s Office was contacted but said they were not prepared to release any information about the tragedy. Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Police investigated the incident.
Edwardsville Fire Department Capt. James Brooks said the firemen received a call about the accident at 3:45 p.m. with the report of a man possibly trapped under a piece of equipment on Stadium Drive.
He said the department would not release the name of the man pending family notification.
“When we got there, someone was performing CPR,” he said. “We did what we could, but it was futile attempt. We disconnected with permission from our resource hospital and then it turned into a recovery from down in the creek, in which he was found. It was probably a 20-foot drop and about a 70-percent grade. It was very steep. We used a rope and things like that to work our way down to the bottom of it.”
Brooks said he is not sure what kind of equipment caused the accident, but it was some type of machinery used for roads. SIU-E Police escorted the Edwardsville Fire Department to the scene once they were close to the area.
“In this particular incident, we do not run across this on a regular basis and we had to use specialized equipment to get down there and retrieve his body,” Brooks said. “It was more or less a lot of rope type of rescue that was used to do the lifting and lowering in that area.”
When Brooks said he cleared the scene at 5:45 p.m., the machinery that caused the death was still in the area.
“It is a pretty big piece of equipment and not something that could be removed in a couple hours,” Brooks said. “The equipment went in at an angle and down about a 70-percent grade drop-off into the little creek.”
Brooks commended the Edwardsville Fire Department personnel for how they handled the scene.
“We pride ourselves on our training and our rescue efforts,” he said. “Our people are familiar with using ropes. The chief congratulated them on their efforts. It was a heavy brush area.”
Edwardsville Fire Department Chaplain Jordan Dollar was on the scene to assist with any officers who might have had issues with the fatal scene.
“That is one of the things I commend the city to have in place for the firefighters and also police for major incidents and traumatic situations to diffuse and talk about it,” Brooks said.
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