One Death, Serious Injury in Falls from Vikings' Stadium
The NFL team and the companies involved expressed regret for the casualties.
A construction worker fell about 50 feet to his death at the Minnesota Vikings' new stadium site Aug. 26 and another worker was seriously injured, the NFL team and the contractors reported.
John Wood, senior vice president with Mortenson Construction, the general contractor overseeing the $1 billion-plus project, said they were still investigating the incident. The man who died was an employee of Berwald Roofing Co.; he fell from the edge of the roof into a snow gutter on the north side of U.S. Bank Stadium about 45 minutes into his shift and was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.
And a second worker from the same subcontractor was injured on the roof but did not fall from it, Wood said. "This is a very tragic day in the life of the stadium construction project," he said.
Work was suspended for the day after the incident. The Vikings released a statement: "Today is an extremely sad day for the Minnesota Vikings organization and the entire stadium team. Our sincere thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the individual who passed away, the worker who remains hospitalized, and the more than 1,000 dedicated construction workers who are on the site every day and are also affected by this accident."
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