Father loses son under Manhattan streets in construction accident

New York has one of the largest underground mass transit systems that transport children to school, employees to work and tourists to famous see famous sights. While the residents and visitors to the large city benefit every day from the network of tunnels, maintenance and construction workers must work in the dark tunnels to build the system and keep it safe for travelers.

A26-year-old New York construction worker recently lost his life approximately 140 feet beneath the Manhattan street level. Not only did the construction accidentclaim the life of the young man, but a father was forced to watch the one thing that should never happen to a parent. He watched the young life of his son slip away before his eyes.

The construction accident occurred on Nov. 17, 2011. The young man had been working on constructing the future commuter rail tunnel for nearly three weeks before the accident occurred. On that fateful Thursday evening, a portion of sprayed-on concrete fell from the ceiling of the tunnel and onto the worker.

Officials reported that safety measures have decreased the number of lives lost in the construction of the tunnels by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. They say that this is the first fatality in a number of years. While there may not be any recent fatalities on tunnel sights operated by the MTA, it was not too long ago that two workers lost their lives during construction of a water tunnel. The water project claimed a total of 23 lives during construction.

Even when safety procedures are helpful in reducing accident risk, the threat of injury or death always remains.

Source: The New York Times, “A Now-Rare Tunnel Accident Claims a Worker’s Life,” Michael M. Grynbaum and Christine Haughney, Nov. 18, 2011