The Pioneer Press
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — An Ogilvie, Minn., man is dead after the crane he was working in tipped over on to it’s side at a construction site in Maplewood.
The accident took place at noon Monday outside St. Paul Hmong Alliance Church, located at 1770 McMenemy Street, according to Maplewood police officials.
The church is reportedly putting on an addition to their facility.
Cory Lewellin was operating a crane at the site when the machine fell over. The 34-year was trapped inside.
Once extricated, Lewellin was taken by ambulance to Regions Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
His family could not be reached for comment Monday.
Maplewood police would not speculate on what caused the accident and said Minnesota OSHA is investigating.
“It’s an open investigation and we are reviewing the details of what may have caused or contributed to the accident,” said James Honerman, a spokesman for Minnesota OSHA.
Honerman added that there is no timetable for how long the investigation may take.
Lewellin’s crane is owned by Truck Crane Service of Eagan.
A message left for the company’s president, Paul Doran, was not immediately returned Monday.
The company has had no accidents reported to OSHA in at least the last five years, according to OSHA records.
Sixty Minnesota workers were fatally injured on the job in 2011, according to a Minnesota Workplace Safety Report compiled by the MN Department of Labor and Industry and published this year.
In 2010, the state endured 70 fatal injuries on the job.
The construction industry was noted as having the highest rate of accidents, according to the report.
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