Author: By Thomas Grillo, Globe Correspondent Date: 07/23/2000 Page: B2 Section: Metro/RegionA Big Dig laborer was seriously injured early yesterday when a bundle of steel scaffolding crossbraces that was being hoisted by a crane collapsed on him, according to Holly Sutherland, a spokeswoman for the project.
The worker was identified as Natalio Elias, 38, of New Bedford, by Andy Paven, a spokesman for Cambridge-based Modern Continental Enterprises, Elias's employer. Elias was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he was reported in critical condition after surgery last night.
"Our only concern at this moment is Mr. Elias's health and well-being," Paven said.
Sutherland said the accident occurred at 6:40 a.m. at the Ventilation Building One construction site in South Boston. The steel structure is being built near the casting basin in the Fort Port Channel, not far from Gillette headquarters.
Minutes after the accident, the job site was shut down and workers were sent home, Sutherland said.
Since 1998, there have been three employee deaths related to the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel project.
In June, an 18-wheeler used to dump clay from the Big Dig tipped over at the state's landfill in Johnston, R.I., crushing the cab of another dump truck and killing the driver, Edward Tarlowski, 53, of Malden.
Last August , Fook Choi Kan , a 56-year-old Springfield carpenter, fell 50 feet to his death in a pit.
And in March 1998, steelworker John Hegarty, 47, of Dorchester, was the first employee to die at the project after being struck on the head by a 30-foot wooden beam that was being lowered by a pile driver into a work pit near Leverett Circle.