A 100,000-pound drilling rig tipped over at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The operator of the machine received serious injures.
Portland Fire & Rescue was able to pull the worker from the cab of the construction crane. He was then taken to a trauma center and is still unidentified.
No one else was reported injured. Other media reported the fire department havi previously said in a now deleted tweet that the operator was not seriously injured. The injured worker is an employee of Vancouver-based construction company Pacific Foundation.
The hospital expansion project is the reason the operator was working at the site. A professional organization is investigating what caused the rig to tip over. Portland Fire & Rescue received reports of the rig tipping over on Southwest Campus Drive just before 10:45 a.m. on Friday.
Some saw firetrucks blocking a road outside of a building with signage that read “Casey Eye Institute.” Portland Fire & Rescue firetrucks blocked traffic on Southwest Campus Drive near Casey Eye Institute after a construction crane tipped over.
Many got to work when it all happened. Construction crew members positioned a jack to lift the rig up and off the worker before fire crews arrived. Fire officials then broke the glass of the cab and extricated the worker.
