A 45-YEAR-OLD contract worker has died on a town industrial estate after falling 35 feet through a manhole to the bottom of a storm drain.
Macclesfield Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have launched investigations into the incident which took place at Lyme Green Business Park last Thursday afternoon (August 14).
The man fell while working on a United Utilities project to build a storm water holding tank next to London Road, opposite Macclesfield Audi garage.
Police, fire and ambulance teams rushed to the scene at around 3pm. Paramedics climbed down a ladder to where the contractor was found, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, a spokeswoman for North West Ambulance Service said.
A police spokeswoman added: "A 45-year-old man from Liverpool working on a construction site fell down an access manhole into a storm drain on Thursday, August 14. It was a 35-foot drop which proved fatal. The Health and Safety Executive and Macclesfield Special Investigation Unit are investigating the case."
Fatal
A garage worker said: "We saw the police and paramedics turn up, but didn’t really know what was going on. They arrived at about 3pm, but they brought him out at about 7pm, so he must have been fairly deep in there."
A spokeswoman for Morgan Est, sub-contracted by United Utilites to work on the storm drain, said: "We can confirm that a fatal accident involving an employee of one of our sub-contractors occurred on August 14, at a construction site in London Road, Macclesfield, where we are undertaking clean water and waste water works for United Utilities.
"Our safety team is working with the Health and Safety Executive to establish how the accident occurred. Safety is paramount at Morgan Est and we are greatly shocked and saddened that such a tragedy should have happened. Our thoughts are with those personally affected. Until we have the results of the investigation, we cannot comment any further."
