ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of a worker killed in a demolition collapse in downtown St. Paul.
St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard says the body of 61-year-old Johnny Valec of Plymouth was recovered about 1 p.m. Tuesday.
The backhoe operator was working to demolish a building at the site of the future St. Paul Saints ballpark when a piece of concrete, roughly 25 feet by 10 feet, fell on him and his equipment. Zaccard says the worker, an employee of Rachel Contracting, was killed instantly.
Zaccard says Minnesota OSHA will investigate.
The St. Paul Saints issued a statement Tuesday extending sympathies to the worker’s family.
Clearing the site for the new Lowertown ballpark began in July.