Drill rig collapse at York U. kills worker 

 Terry Davidson

Toronto medic tends to one of the workers who suffered minor injuries on Tuesday after a drill rig flipped over and killed a worker at the construction site of the new subway at York University in Toronto. Another worker was trapped for about two hours before he was freed. DAVE THOMAS

TORONTO - A construction worker was crushed to death and five of his workmates injured after a drilling rig tipped over at York University’s Keele campus on Tuesday.
The rig, a crane-like machine used to bore holes in the ground, tipped over onto two other pieces of machinery — a backhoe and front-end loader, said Sgt. Simon Fraser of Toronto Police.
The 25-year-old worker who was in the cab of one of those vehicles was killed. Five other workers suffered injuries, ranging from major to minor, and were rushed to Sunnybrook hospital.
One worker suffered a major head injury, another severe “crushing injuries,” Fraser said. The injuries are considered life-threatening in both cases.
Three other workers were treated for relatively-minor injuries hospital, Toronto Police spokesman Const. Tony Vella said.
All victims were male.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, the body of the killed worker remained in the crushed cab of his vehicle as officials from the Ministry of Labour investigated.
Behind a wall of emergency vehicles, the large treads of the drilling rig could be seen sticking straight up in the air.
The rig fell over around 2:30 p.m. in the York Blvd. and John Gillies St. area of the campus, just west of Keele St. It was one of the many heavy machines being used to construct a TTC subway station there.
Another construction company responded to the emergency by bringing in a crane from a nearby site to lift the mammoth drilling rig off of the other two vehicles, said Fraser.
“When things go bad, people step up to the plate and help each other out,” Fraser said.
The construction was part of the building of the TTC’s York University subway station, TTC spokesman Brad Ross said.
Shovels pierced the ground in July, Ross said, adding work crews had been assembled after the TTC hired construction firms OHL and FCC as contractors. Ross said safety on the site was the responsibility of the construction firms working there.
“Certainly, (we send) our condolences to the families of the victim,” said Ross, adding the commission wished for a “speedy recovery” for the five injured in the accident.