Man Killed By Tape Measure In Freak Accident At Jersey City Construction Site
JERSEY CITY, N.J.(CBSNewYork) -- A freak accident at a construction site on Monday, involved a common construction tool that many people have in their kitchen.
As CBS2's Steve Langford reported, it was a simply delivery that turned tragic.
A truck carrying a load of sheetrock was still at the construction site in Jersey City hours after the truck's operator died right beside his rig. The vehicle was listed as belonging to Living Right Trucking Inc. The words 'Owned by God' were added to the side of the truck.
Gary Anderson, 58, of Somerdale, N.J. was killed as he delivered sheetrock. A tape measure fell off a construction worker's belt fifty stories above bounced off a piece of equipment near the ground, and then struck the driver in the head.
Police said that Anderson was not wearing a safety helmet.
"Yeah it's a little scary. You don't know what's going to happen," Juan Bonilla said.
Bonilla works at a nearby site and said that a safety helmet would have made all the difference.
"Absolutely. I think he would have been hurt. Maybe in the hospital, but it would have probably saved his life," Bonilla said.
Another worker told CBS2's Langford that the victim was apparently a very religious man who had been telling a story, and uttered the words 'God is good' the moment before he died.
OSHA was investigating the accident which happened just a few feet from the entrance to a PATH station.
"It's very scary. I had no idea something so, so small could do so much damage," one witness said.
Neither the construction company, nor the trucking firm would comment on the bizarre tragedy.
The victim was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, but died an hour later.
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