Two employees at a granite and marble wholesale warehouse in Michigan died after multiple slabs of granite, each weighing more than 1,000 pounds, fell and crushed them on Sept. 9.
The two men, who were identified as 28 and 60 years old, were working at Stone Warehouse near Detroit when they were killed. They died almost instantly, reported WXYZ.
The slabs measured 5 feet wide and 8 feet long, and weighed more than 1,000 pounds each, the Associated Press reported.
The men’s names have not yet been released.
WXYZ reported that another employee at the warehouse called 911 around 2:30p.m. When Sterling Heights Police Department officers arrived at the scene, which is on 7235 19 Mile Road, they found that slabs of granite had fallen on the men.
Police Lt. Mario Bastianelli said it was not immediately clear why the stone slabs fell, reported Detroit News.
Sterling Heights Fire Chief Chris Martin said the men were using a crane to move slabs of granite when they shifted and pinned them down.
“They were using a crane to move some granite around and some of the granite shifted and pinned the workers underneath it,” Martin said.
“The employees were moving some granite and something happened where the granite slabs shifted and several of them collapsed on the two guys that were working down them and pretty much killed them instantly,” he added. “Im not exactly sure how they shifted, why they shifted, but once one took off, several of them moved—it’s not supposed to do that.”
Martin said there were no customers inside the warehouse when the accident happened and he doesn’t know how many employees were inside.
Firefighters began a painstaking recovery operation to remove the victims bodies out from underneath the slabs of stone.
“We’re trying to slowly and methodically remove all that granite so we can get them out without anybody else getting hurt,” Martin said, Click on Detroit reported.
“It’s a tragic day for them, and our hearts are with them,” Martin said of the employees who work at the warehouse.
An investigation into the accident is ongoing.
5-Year-Old Girl Dies Under Collapsed Stone Fence
Last month, a similar accident happened in New York City, when a 5-year-old girl died after a piece of fence fell and caused her to fall and receive a head injury on Aug. 29.
The girl, Alysson Pinto-Chaumana, was with her mother visiting a relative in Brooklyn around 9:00 p.m.
Surveillance video shows Alysson standing in front of a fence when it suddenly collapses, causing her to fall and severely injure her head, WABC reported. Her mother, Maira Lorena Chaumana, is then seen picking her up and looking for help.
The family waived down a passing ambulance and rushed Alysson to Wyckoff Hospital where she was pronounced.
The girl’s father Edgar Pinto said the fence was not secured and called for an investigation.
“All work needs to pass an inspection and I don’t know how this managed to pass,” he said through tears. “There is nothing to hold it in, no screws or no cement,” Edgar Pinto told Telemundo at the time.
A GoFundMe has been launched to cover the funeral expenses.
