Man Dies After 2 Cranes Collapse at Work Site In Southeast Texas

A man trapped for more than two hours in the rubble of two collapsed cranes in the coastal town of Igleside, Texas, died later in the day at a hospital, officials said.

The incident began April 29 when multiple cranes were working together to move a 20-ton metal structure in a fabrication yard at Gulf Marine Fabricators Inc., a company that makes drilling and production platforms. One of the booms broke loose, throwing the heavy load onto the cab of a crane, said officials with the San Patricio County sheriff’s office.

Emergency personnel waited at the scene while workers cut apart the collapsed load and brought in other cranes to lift pieces and free the worker, whom authorities did not identify.

The man was then taken by helicopter to a hospital, where he died after more than three hours of surgery, said Sherry Carr-Deer, spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Health System.

Two other workers were treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Company officials with Gulf Marine and its parent company, Louisiana-based Gulf Island Fabrication, declined to comment or did not respond to phone messages.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration is investigating the accident, officials said.

The story was reported by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.