1 Dead After 2 Workers Hit By Steel Beam At Evanston Worksite

EVANSTON, IL — A construction worker died Tuesday in Evanston after steel beams fell on him and another worker. Police and fire personnel responded to a call of an accident shortly before 8:30 a.m. at the building site for a new nine-story apartment building in the 800 block of Emerson Street involving two workers, both seriously injured by a load of beams that seemingly shifted as it was moved by a crane.

One man, David G. Bialas, 55, of the 900 block of State Route 251 in Compton, Illinois, was taken to Evanston Hospital in critical condition, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

The other worker, a 28-year-old Woodridge man, was pinned underneath a beam and had to be extricated by firefighters. Police said he was in surgery in serious and stable condition early Tuesday afternoon.

According to a preliminary investigation, the workers had been unloading a steel support column from a truck with the help of the crane when the rigging gave way or the load somehow shifted, causing the columns to fall from a height of about 30 feet.

Federal workplace investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were at the scene following the incident, police and fire officials said.

Due to concerns about the stability of the crane, the crane operator remained in his post until rescuers could assist him from a height of about 130 feet up, according to Evanston fire officials.

Street closures will remain in place in the area of Maple and Sherman Avenues while the investigation continues, according to Perry Polinski, communications coordinator for the Evanston Police Department.

The planned building, 811 Emerson, which will be marketed to college students, was approved in June 2017. It broke ground in April and was expected to be finished next summer, its developer told the Daily Northwestern earlier this year.

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