In the second construction-related workplace death in the Baltimore area this week, a man died Friday morning after getting pinned after falling down an elevator shaft in Cockeysville.
Baltimore County Fire Department officials say the victim, identified as 31-year-old Michael Zeller, fell 20 feet down the shaft, where he became trapped between a wall and a counter-weight for an elevator. The work site, currently being renovated, was located at 24 Schilling Road.
Medics from the Cockeysville Volunteer Fire Company were called at 8:30 a.m. for a report of a fall. Rescuers arrived and reportedly found Zeller’s co-workers had already pulled him out. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
No one else was injured. Baltimore County police and Maryland Occupational Safety and Health are investigating the incident.
The tragedy comes three days after another construction worker, 20-year-old Kyle Hancock of Glen Burnie, was killed when a trench collapsed on him in Clifton Park in Northeast Baltimore. Hancock worked for R.F. Warder, a White Marsh-based HVAC and plumbing company, and was working on a sewer line when the earth caved in.
City fire department officials said the following day that the 15-foot-deep pit lacked the proper protective barriers to prevent the trench from collapsing on Hancock, The Sun reported. The Maryland Occupational Safety and Health department is also investigating that incident.
