'A Beam Fell Over, and It's Laying on Top of a Guy': 911 Call From I-90 Tragedy

Three 911 calls released by the city of Des Plaines give a glimpse at how people at the scene rushed to help construction workers caught in a deadly accident Tuesday involving a 45-ton steel beam that fell from an I-90 bridge over Touhy Avenue.

Vincente Santoyo, 47, of Berwyn, was killed, and three other workers were injured in the accident.

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The Daily Herald acquired the audio from the 911 calls, which they posted Thursday, after filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the city.

A construction worker who called 911 to report the incident described the accident to an operator at the Des Plaines Fire Department:

Operator: What’s going on there?

Caller: We were … they were "demoling" a bridge, and a beam fell. A couple guys were in the man lift.

Operator: Are there people that are injured?

Caller: Uh, yes, I don’t know how … if any are critical, but there are injuries.

Two of the callers told emergency operators that the beam had pinned one of the workers but that the worker was still conscious.

Caller: The Touhy Avenue bridge where we’re doing construction, a beam fell over, and it’s laying on top of a guy.

Operator: Is he conscious and alert?

Caller: Uh, I believe so. I’m down here to let the flagger, to get the flagger, to let him know an ambulance is needed.

During one of the 911 calls, an operator tells the caller to make sure the man under the beam isn't moved, but the caller says that other workers had already pulled him out from underneath the beam. That caller at the scene also did not know if the man who was under the beam was badly hurt.

Operator: Is there only one patient?

Caller: No. There may be multiples. ... Send a couple of them [ambulances] just in case.

More via the Daily Herald

PHOTO: (Nadbasher | Wikimedia Commons)