Deadly Lightning Strike Under Investigation, Victim Identified
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police have released the name of the construction worker struck by lightning Thursday. Authorities say 40-year-old Bryan Bradley, of Linwood, was pouring cement on the 7th Floor roof of the unfinished, Revel Casino in Atlantic City. Eyewitness News spoke to one of Bradley's friends and co-workers.
"I felt like it was fake," said Frank Lugo. "I didn't think it really happened. I didn't think it was real, until Bryan went down."
Lugo says he watched Bradley fall to the ground after lightning struck Thursday afternoon. "I felt a shock in my arm, I didn't feel hurt," said Lugo, who lives in Atlantic City. "I just felt like static on my arm. I guess I let go at the right time."
Lugo says around 3:30 that afternoon he and three other men were holding on to the handles of a 31/2 yard bucket of cement when the accident happened. According to Lugo, his boss had just finished telling the group that after they pour that bucket of cement, they would take a break until the thunderstorms passed. "No sooner than he said that, lightening hit the bucket," said Lugo.
Police say 56 year-old Joseph Forcino was taken to a nearby hospital for burns but doctor's couldn't save Bradley, a father of two. Friday morning, construction crews paused for a moment of silence in Bradley's memory. Officials with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are now investigating. The general contractors for the project, Revel Entertainment and Tishman Construction had no comment. A representative from Laborers International Union of North America Local 415 said there are still many questions that need to be answered. "We want to find out, did they have knowledge of what was going on, where life or injury could have been prevented?" said Local 415 Representative Eric Wilcox.
Bradley was employed by Network Construction, a sub-contractor based out of Pleasantville, New Jersey. Network issued a statement calling what happened a tragic incident.
Reported by Jericka Duncan, CBS 3
