Crime & Safety

Richmond Resident, 49, One of Two To Die In Fall at Construction Site

The two men were in a crane basket about 80 feet in the air while working on the Winters Putah Creek Car Bridge on Friday.

Two Bay Area men were killed in a crane accident while working to build a new bridge in the Yolo County city of Winters on Friday, fire officials said today. 

Los Gatos resident Marcus Zane Powell, 25, and 49-year-old Glenn Hodgson of Richmond were killed in the accident at the construction site of the Winters Putah Creek Car Bridge around 7 a.m. Friday, according to Winters Fire Chief Aaron McAlister. 

The two men were in a basket connected to a crane suspended about 80 feet in the air when the basket detached from the crane system, causing the victims to fall onto a pile of timbers over a deep hole dug as part of the bridge's construction, according to the fire chief. 

"It was not a survivable fall," McAlister said. Fire personnel attempted life-saving measures but were unable to revive the two men. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. 

An urban search and rescue team aided fire crews in recovering the victims' bodies. 

McAlister said a group of about 20 other construction workers at the bridge Friday included one of the victim's fathers. He and other family members were present while the bodies of Powell and Hodgson were recovered on Friday afternoon. 

California Division of Occupational Safety and Health investigators also arrived on the scene Friday to begin an investigation into the deaths. The Cal/OSHA investigation is ongoing. 

The two Bay Area men were working for Burlingame-based Disney Construction, Inc. at the time of their deaths. 

A company spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment this morning.

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