23.01.2007

Man crushed by lift

A 56-year-old man from West Yarmouth Massachusetts died yesterday morning after he was pinned between his aerial lift and the frame of a building he was working on.

David Karpinski was installing wiring for outdoor lighting at a boat storage building at the Hyannis Marina when the platform of his lift raised unexpectedly.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation but the local police believe that Karpinski who was working alone at the time may have leaned over onto the machine's controls to pass under a beam causing the lift to rise pressing him further onto the controls.

A colleague who was responding to a call from Karpinski for more fuel for the lift, found his body around 8 a.m yesterday morning. His lift was around six metres in the air.