COSTA MESA : Freeway Work Site Cave-In Kills Man
A construction worker died Monday after his head was buried during a cave-in at a freeway work site, authorities said.
Michael Larry Peterson, 28, of Beaumont in Riverside County, suffered severe head trauma and was pronounced dead at College Hospital in Costa Mesa shortly after the 2 p.m accident, Costa Mesa Fire spokeswoman Susan Mora Wood said.
Wood said the worker was inspecting a clay slope at the Costa Mesa Freeway extension project near the intersection of Newport Boulevard and 22nd Street.
“The slope gave way and buried him,” Wood said.
Officials from the fire department and Cal/OSHA were investigating the cause of the slippage, she said.
The man was an employee of Yeager Construction in Santa Ana, a coroner’s official said. Co-workers at the construction site declined comment Monday.
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