VANCOUVER - The operator of a mobile crane working on the Canada Line rapid-transit project in Vancouver died Monday after the crane collapsed.
Canada Line spokesman Steve Crombie said the 22-year-old crane operator was hoisting a load of materials onto the deck of a bridge spanning the Fraser River when the centre of gravity shifted and the crane toppled over.
"Tragically, the operator was pinned in the cab and subsequently died," Crombie said in an interview.
"We're going to have to bring in a bigger crane, probably a barge crane, in order to lift the crane that's on the deck of the bridge. We won't be able to get the body of the worker out until that happens."
Vancouver police spokesman Const. Howard Chow said police got their first report just before noon of the accident at the south Vancouver end of the Canada Line route.
Crombie said the dead man, who was not identified, was an employee of a joint-venture company set up to build bridge on the Canada Line, a $1.9-billion expansion of Vancouver's SkyTrain elevated rapid-transit system.
He did not know the young man's level of experience but said like all those working with heavy equipment on the project, he would have undergone training and certification to operate the crane.
"This particular worker had been on this project between four and five months," he said.
Crombie said this is the first fatality in the two years of active construction on the Canada Line, which links downtown Vancouver with suburban Richmond and Vancouver International Airport and is slated for completion in 2009.
"The safety record has been excellent, so that's what makes this even more of a tragedy," he said.
"We've had a few lost-time incidents but for a big project like this involving the number of people that this project involves, we're above the industry average."
Chow said no one else was injured in the accident.
Vancouver police and fire investigators were on the scene, along with the coroner and officials of the provincial WorkSafe BC program.
Crombie said work would be halted on that section of the project until their on-scene investigations were completed.
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