Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 13, 1993 TAG: 9310130205
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Charles E. Mays and Herbert N. Wilson were the workers involved in the accident, Salem Police Sgt. Jeff Dudley said.
Wilson was still in surgery late Tuesday, according to a spokesman at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Mays, who was taken to Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, was listed in stable condition.
Dudley said the men were standing on a beam, waiting to connect another beam, when a support column tore loose from its footing about 2:15 p.m. He said a blast of wind apparently moved the column and broke bolts securing it to the structure.
"Then the beam that they were standing on fell to the ground," Dudley said. He said he did not know how far the workers fell. Nor did he know if the men were wearing hard hats or other safety gear.
Yokohama Tire officials would not discuss the incident.
Bob Phillips, project manager for Kajima Construction Service, overseeing the building of the addition at 1500 Indiana St., said the extent of the workers' injuries was unknown and the accident was being investigated. He provided no details.
Inspectors with the state Department of Labor and Industry were sent to Yokohama on Tuesday, according to department spokesman Harry Carver.
At 2:30 p.m., at least 20 police, rescue workers and firefighters crowded around a spot at the base of a tall crane marked "Commercial Steel Erection Co."
Dave Scruggs, secretary-treasurer of Commercial Steel in Lynchburg, said company President Danny Moon was on his way to Salem.
A Salem rescue van took Mays to Lewis-Gale Hospital about 2:45 p.m. Wilson was flown to Roanoke Memorial Hospital shortly before 3.
Early this year, Yokohama announced a $33 million expansion, including a 150,000-square-foot addition. The tire maker, formerly Mohawk Rubber Co., last year became the U.S. subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. in Japan.
by CNB