FARMINGTON, Utah — A man was killed after he was crushed by a crane on Interstate 15 in Farmington Monday morning.
The individual was a 42-year-old man who was contracted through the Utah Department of Transportation to work as a team member on the West Davis Highway project.
Officials later identified the man as Darren Baddley, from the Salina/Gunnison area.
"It's an incredibly tragic and sad day on our West Davis Highway project and really all across UDOT and our contracting community," said John Gleason, UDOT representative.
Utah Highway Patrol called the incident a "tragic accident," saying just before 9 a.m., a team was disassembling a crane near the southbound lanes of I-15 near the Glover Lane exit when a portion of the crane collapsed on top Baddley.
Baddley sustained fatal injuries as a result of the accident and died at the scene.
His identity was not made immediately available as family members were notified of the death. Baddley was employed by Wadsworth Brothers, a heavy highway construction company.
Gleason said the project was suspended and workers were sent home following the accident.
"It's the dedication of these men and women who are out here that have made this project possible and so to have something like this happen where we lose a member of our construction team, it's hard to process," Gleason said emotionally. "Especially for those coworkers who have been out with him."
UDOT and Gleason offered their condolences many times to the family and friends of Baddley, saying it was an "unimaginable" loss."
Gleason also clarified that the incident was not caused by a separate traffic crash and was fully contained to the construction work zone.
"We are heart broken and devastated by the loss of life that occurred this morning, and our hearts and prayers go out to the family," Wadsworth Brothers said in a statement. "The safety and well-being of our team members, employees, and other contractors are our first priority."
An investigation is underway by UDOT, UHP and OSHA to determine exactly what happened and what led up to the fatal situation.
