Worker Killed as Beams Fall From Crane

A young construction worker was killed Tuesday morning when a load of steel beams being carried by a crane broke loose and one of the beams fell on his head, authorities said.

The incident took place near the 1700 block of North Orange Drive in Hollywood, at the construction site of a movie theater and shopping complex that is to be the home of the Academy Awards.

The man, whose identity was not released, was in his early 20s. He was working in an excavation 80 feet below street level on construction of a underground parking facility, authorities said.

Employees from Malcolm Drilling Co., the subcontractor in charge of the parking lot construction, were unloading 60-foot steel beams from a truck when the sling strapping the beams together broke, said Dean Fryer, spokesman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

The man suffered massive injuries and was dead by the time a Fire Department rescue team arrived, Fire Capt. Stephen Ruda said.