Construction worker electrocuted, another injured at work site on West Side

CHICAGO (WGN) — One construction worker was killed and another was injured after being electrically shocked at a work site on the city’s West Side.

It happened around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on the 3400 block of West Ogden Avenue in the North Lawndale neighborhood.

Police said two men, ages 26 and 33 years old, were on a lift while working at a construction site, when the equipment made contact with an electrical line, killing the 33-year-old man and injuring the other.

The identity of the victim killed has not yet been released by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“I heard my brother hollering out, ‘Call for help, call for help,'” Tonya Simmons-Spruill said.

Simmons-Spruill and Rhazsa Simmons spoke with WGN Tuesday. The siblings said their brother witnessed everything as it happened and frantically ran to get help.

“To watch my brother run through the house crying saying there was two guys stuck on the lift and it was on fire, it was a hurtful feeling,” Simmons said. “We come outside and to see the lift on fire, there’s nothing you can do, electric running everywhere, the current going all through the fences.”

The pair said they asked what they could do, offered prayers and help, and tried to let the injured workers know they weren’t alone.

“We were trying to let them know constantly that help is on the way. Help is on the way,” Simmons-Spruill said. “It was so traumatic because everybody was trying to do what they could to help them.”

After putting out the fire, witnesses said firefighters were eventually able to reach the two workers through a door in the building adjacent to the bucket the workers were in.

“It was one guy still moving around up there. He was standing still and I think that’s what saved his life,” said Simmons.

The 26-year-old man was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital for observation and is listed in good condition.

“We must have prayed for at least 15 to 20 minutes hoping that whoever it was, that they survived,” said Obadiah Clay.

According to ComEd Spokesperson Tom Dominguez, crews arrived to secure the scene and have remained there throughout the day.

“Right now the investigation is just beginning, so we don’t have a lot of details. We know it was not a ComEd crew involved in this,” Dominguez said.

Sources told WGN News the two men were working for a construction company contracted to work on a housing development project located at 3201-3423 West Ogden Avenue.

According to housing records, Grace Manor Apartments, a mixed-use six-floor development, will be home to 65 affordable housing units and ground retail space. Once completed, it will also have 19 Chicago Housing Authority units.

The identities of the workers have not yet been released.

Area Four detectives are investigating, according to Chicago police.

WGN News has reached out to the developers of the project and a construction company associated with it for a statement.