"A worker sitting in the cab of a backhoe was killed Tuesday morning when concrete fell on him during demolition at the site of a new ballpark in St. Paul a construction executive said.
The death of John Valek, 61, of Plymouth, occurred about 8 a.m. while he and others were tearing down and
clearing the site of the old Gillette/Diamond Products building, a
former 650,000-square-foot factory in Lowertown St. Paul.
“As heavy equipment operators were
demolishing a building, a portion of the concrete structure supporting
the building fell onto the cab of one of the backhoes involved in the
demolition work,” Collin Barr, president of the Midwest region for
general contractor Ryan Cos. said in a statement issued about 8 hours
after the incident. “The accident resulted in the death of Johnny
Valek.”
Excavation began in July at the site in
the 300 block of 5th Street, near Interstate 94 and Hwy. 52, and was
slated to last four months.
Fire
Marshal Steve Zaccard described Valek’s death as sudden and came when he
was hit by a piece of concrete measuring roughly 10 feet by 30 feet. The excavation work was being done by
Rachel Contracting, of St. Michael, Minn. Executives with the
subcontractor were not immediately available to comment.
Randy Valek said his brother had more than
25 years of experience in construction. He said his brother had
recently talked about what a tough job this demolition was.
“You got to watch out any time you’re around any equipment,” Randy Valek said.
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