Pennsylvania State Police handling investigation into death of worker on Parkway East
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A construction worker is dead after police said a tractor-trailer hit a bucket truck on the Parkway East Friday morning.
State police said a tractor-trailer hit the bucket and sent the man falling to the trail down below. At this point, state police continue to investigate but say other agencies like OSHA are getting involved as well.
According to state police, it was around 3:15 Friday morning when the man, identified as 41-year-old Derek Cronk, fell out of the bucket. It happened on the outbound Parkway East near the Oakland exit. Troopers say the left lane was closed and the bucket truck was in that lane. Its arm was extended with the bucket over the right lane with travel continuing beneath it. A tractor-trailer allegedly hit the bucket with the construction worker still inside.
"At that point, the bucket began to spin around its axis, and the operator was then ejected from the bucket," State Police Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said.
Investigators told KDKA he fell to the trail down below. The man was rushed to UPMC Mercy Hospital where he died.
"We're looking at anything and everything," Trooper Gagliardi said. "Where the bucket exactly was over the open lane of travel. Was there a harness? Was it on the operator?"
The man was working on a PennDOT project but was not a PennDOT employee. State Police said he worked for Swank Construction. We reached out to Swank construction but have not heard back from them.
"We have our reconstruction team and our forensics teams out there all morning. They're scanning. They get every inch and every angle and every speed and velocity of everything," Trooper Gagliardi said outside the state police barracks Friday morning.
The truck driver was cooperative with investigators and was at the scene for several hours.
Troopers are hoping the truck has dashcam video of the incident.
"If it was operational and turned on we will get it. If he didn't we will have to deal with that when it comes time," Trooper Gagliardi said.
The Parkway East was closed for several hours before it reopened at seven this morning. It is too soon to know if charges will be filed.
State police said if you have any dashcam video or saw anything, they would like to hear from you.