Worker fatally injured at Gold Coast construction site

Federal workplace safety officials were called to a Gold Coast construction site where a worker was crushed to death by a crane on Friday afternoon.

Emergency crews were called to the site of a high rise under construction near Elm and State streets about 3 p.m. and found the 45-year-old man injured, police said.

The man had been working inside a crane on the sixth floor when he became pinned in the equipment, fire officials said.

Other workers freed the man before ambulances arrived but he was unresponsive at the scene, fire officials said.

He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Joel Ogeigo of the 5100 block of Lakeview Avenue in Portage, Indiana.

Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were called to the scene and “will determine if an investigation into the incident should be opened,” according to a statement from the federal agency.

OSHA has up to six months to interview workers and company officials on the incident before deciding whether to levy fines or citations against the employer for safety violations.

“It is tragic whenever a worker loses his life on the job. We extend our sincere condolences to this worker’s loved ones,” OHSA Area Director Kathy Webb said in the statement.