Construction worker dies in fall at the new Minnesota Vikings stadium

Wednesday morning at the Minnesota Vikings’ new stadium, a construction worker fell 50 feet to his death while another worker was seriously injured.

At this time, officials have reported they are investigating the facts around the accident in order to determine exactly what happened. John Wood, the senior vice president with Mortenson Construction is the general contractor overseeing the $1 billion-plus project at the stadium, according to Fox News.

The man who died was an employee of Berwald Rooding Co. About 45 minutes into his shift, he fell from the edge of the roof into a snow gutter and was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

Wood said that another man was also injured on the roof, but did not fall. The details surrounding his accident have not yet been pieced together either. Investigators are still looking in details such as if the two men were wearing harnesses or other safety gear at the time.

“This is a very tragic day in the life of the stadium construction project,” Wood said at a news conference.

After the accidents, all operations at the worksite were halted for the day. Over 1,200 men and women are currently working on the stadium project who all held “a very somber gathering” after the accident.

“Our priority is to ensure that we know exactly what happened and ensure that it never happens again. A man lost his life on this project today and that simply never should happen,” Wood said.

He also added that the site would hopefully begin work again on Thursday, but that there would be no rush as counselors would be offering services to all of the workers on the site and that process would stay on as long as needed.

At this time, the names of the two men have not yet been released.

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