Construction Worker Buried under Dirt, One of Several Killed on Job

Safety at Work

Goodyear, AZ (WorkersCompensation.com) – A construction worker died after being buried under six feet of dirt at a construction site in Arizona.

He was just one of several workers killed on the site over the past two weeks.

According to police, emergency crews were called to a construction site in Goodyear, a suburb of Phoenix, around 1 p.m. on Monday, July 28. The Goodyear Fire Department Ruben Real said first responders found Ronald Andrew Baquera, Jr., 44, stuck in a hole about six feet underground.

Fire crew members attempted to dig Baquera out from underneath the dirt but were not able to get him out.

“The problem was, as they pulled dirt out, more dirt was collapsing in, which really made this rescue almost impossible,” Goodyear Police Deputy Chief Jose Gonzalez told media outlets. “Our hearts go out to the family of the individual who’s trapped, as well as to the partners who are here working with this individual."

The rescue was hampered, officials said, by crews coming close to nearby gas lines. After several hours, the operation was transitioned from a rescue effort to a recovery effort. Baquera’s body was recovered early Tuesday morning.  

"No one goes to work expecting not to come home that night," Gonzalez added.

The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health told ABC 15 the incident is under investigation to see if there were any safety violations at the site. That report, the agency said, could take up to six months.

In Toms River, N.J., a night crew construction worker was killed when an impaired driver struck him.

Officials said police were called to a construction site around 1 a.m. on Thursday in response to a report of a crash involving an injured pedestrian.

Officers found an unnamed man in the road with serious injuries. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said. Ocean County and Toms River detective determined that a vehicle struck the man while he was working for a construction company.

Police charged Douglas Smith, 51, of Toms River, with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. Prosecutors said Smith was taken into custody and had blood drawn to determine his blood alcohol level. Depending on the results, the prosecutor’s office said, Smith could face criminal charges.

In Gulfport, Miss., a radio station employee was killed in a freak accident, officials said.

Police were called to Coast Radio Group last Friday when an out-of-control car crashed through the front of a building housing seven radio stations. Fifty-nine-year-old Elizabeth Thornburg, an office administrator at the station, died at the scene Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer said.

According to officials, the car left Seaway Road and hit the building near the front door and drove through three offices before stopping about 40 feet inside the building. Thornburg’s office was one of the offices that the car went through.

Three other people were hospitalized in stable condition, including the driver and a passenger in the car. Gulfport Police Commander Clayton Fulks said the cause of the crash was unclear, but no one had been charged by Friday afternoon. Authorities said the accident was under investigation, and that there was a possibility the driver may have had a medical emergency.

And in Becket, Mass., a production manager at a performance center was killed in a workplace accident Friday.

According to the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office, Kat Sirico, 40, was using a dolly to move theater staging platforms across Jacob’s Pillow Dance Property on Friday. As she drove the dolly down a slope, the dolly began to roll. As she tried to regain control of the dolly, she tripped and fell, the DA said. The dolly then ran over Sirico and the platforms landed on them.

Officials said nearby bystanders tried to save Sirico with lifesaving measures but were unsuccessful. Law enforcement deemed Sirico’s death a workplace accident, and that no criminal charges would be filed.

The performance center canceled its Aug 1 through 3 performances and said it would resume performances this week.

“Their spirit, generosity, and dedication touched the lives of many,” Jacob’s Pillow said of Sirico in a Facebook post Friday.

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