On July 6, one man, an employee of a contractor on a construction site, was killed and another was injured after a drill rig collapsed in University City.
Credit: Kylie CooperOn Tuesday night, one man was killed and another was injured after a drill rig collapsed in University City.
Around 9:10 p.m., firefighters and police officers responded to a call near Franklin Field and Penn Museum. According to NBC10 Philadelphia, at 8:30 p.m. the crane was offloading equipment and placing it in a work site when it toppled over. The rig operator was injured and a 56-year-old worker, identified as Kirankumar Mistry, was killed.
According CBS News, Mistry was found unconscious and bleeding underneath the crane. Medics transported both injured men to Presbyterian Medical Center, where Mistry was pronounced dead at 9:45 p.m.
Officials said that Mistry was not an employee of Cook Drilling Corporation, the owner of the drill rig. He worked for another contractor on site, 6abc Philadelphia reported.
The rig operator had worked in the field for 20 years and had been an employee of Cook Drilling Corp. for only a few months, 6abc Philadelphia wrote. He suffered injuries to the hand and lower body and was in a "state of shock."
When the drill collapsed, there were no passersby and it did not damage any property, 6abc Philadelphia reported.
"It's fortunate that it was this time of the evening where this is a high traffic area during the day and it could have been a lot more potential for danger to many folks, but still there were two individuals who were hurt here so that's still tragic," Philadelphia Assistant Fire Chief Charles Walker told 6abc Philadelphia.
The area of the scene was closed all Wednesday as investigations took place.
According to FOX 29 Philadelphia, Balfour Beatty and LF Driscoll, two companies working at the Penn construction site, wrote a joint statement about the accident.
"We are deeply saddened by this incident, and our sincere sympathies are with all involved. We are supporting project team members during this trying time and fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation," the statement said.
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