Trapped worker beheaded by excavator in failed rescue attempt
Hurriyet.com.tr
DHA photo
A worker who was trapped underground in a construction site accident was killed as other workers tried to dig him out using an excavator yesterday.Cengiz Demirel was laying down underground pipes at a construction site owned by the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ) in the Thracian province of Edirne.
Demirel was working in a four-meter-deep well when a landslide trapped him underground. Other workers tried to dig Demirel out but were unable to reach him, leading them to resort to using an excavator present at the site.
Excavator operator M.Ü., 42, wanted to dig out a piece of earth to reach Demirel, but instead, the machine's bucket caught Demirel's neck and decapitated him. Demirel's friends fell into a fit of hysteria after witnessing the incident, while police were called to the construction site.
Police and firefighters dug out Demirel's body after an hour-long effort and sent it to the coroner in Istanbul to determine the exact cause of death.
Operator M.Ü. was detained by the police for questioning.
