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DANVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A worker restoring bricks on the exterior of a hospital on Wednesday fell from scaffolding and died, the second fatal construction accident in the region in as many days.
Stephen Kuchka, 48, from the Berwick area, plunged about 100 feet from the scaffolding outside the Foss Clinic at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Montour County coroner Scott Lynn said.
Preliminary indications are that workers preparing to take a break had removed wooden planking in preparation for lowering the scaffolding, replacing it with a thin piece of plywood, and the worker may have stepped on the plywood and fallen through, Lynn said.
“Co-workers reported hearing a loud ‘Snap!’ prior to him falling,” Lynn said.
Lynn released Kuchka’s name after meeting with his family. An autopsy was being scheduled.
The hospital was cooperating with an investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, hospital spokesman Mike Ferlazzo said.
In neighboring Columbia County, the coroner’s office said Richard Thomas Gold III, of Unityville, died Tuesday when a trench collapsed on a state transportation department project in Eyers Grove, Columbia County.