A man is dead after the bucket truck he was working in was struck by a passing semi truck in Pittsburgh on Friday morning.
The accident happened on October 7th at around 3:15 a.m. in the outbound lanes of Parkway East just past the Oakland exit.
According to Pittsburgh Action 4 News, a worker was standing in the bucket of a bucket truck that was parked in the left lane, which was closed for construction. The bucket arm was extended over the right lane, which was still open for travel.
A semi truck then passed beneath the extended arm, striking the bottom of the bucket and throwing the man from the bucket, off the parkway, and onto a bike trail below.
“During that time, it was active construction in which the left lane was closed off for construction. At that time, there was a bucket operator truck in that left lane in which the arm was extended out and over into the right lane of travel, which was still open at the time,” Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said.
The man was taken to a hospital, but died of his injuries. It is unclear whether the construction worker was wearing the correct safety gear while inside of the bucket.
“We’re so early in this process of investigation, we’re looking at everything and anything. Where the bucket exactly was over the open lane of travel, was there a harness in the bucket, was it on the operator,” Gagliardi said. “We’re looking at all that right now, and, hopefully, we can release that in the near future.”
The trucker stayed on the scene and cooperated with investigators. Officers say that it is not clear whether the driver will face charges, as the incident is still under investigation. The outbound lanes of Parkway East were shut for around four hours following the incident. They have since been reopened.