Man crushed in Parkway construction site

Police are investigating death of man who died after forklift toppled over

HORRIFIED eyewitnesses looked on helplessly as the driver of a forklift truck was killed at the Parkway construction site yesterday (Wednesday) when the vehicle he was driving toppled over.

Pedestrians in Northbrook Street were disturbed by a crashing bang from the site at 9.10am as concrete and wood carried by the truck sprayed onto the road where work was commencing on the £150 million pound development opposite McDonalds restaurant.

A cyclist narrowly missed being crushed by the falling rubble as crowds of shocked workmen quickly began to gather.

Although news of the man's condition did not filter through until later, many were visibly upset by the incident and could be seen talking to friends and family on their phones.

The emergency services were called but the 41-year-old forklift driver from Oxfordshire was pronounced dead at the scene.

It is believed the falling vehicle landed on top of him as he was trying to escape, although police are treating the death as unexplained and officers were still at the scene investigating as the Newbury Weekly News went to press.

Northbrook Street Mission Beauty employee Nicola Tomkins said: "I was here on reception and I heard a chap yelling 'No, no, no', then I heard a massive bang. I went outside and saw the carnage. We didn't know what was happening, but they put the tarpaulin up, obviously to protect the man's privacy. The ambulance was here within minutes."

An eyewitness to the incident, who did not wish to be named, was standing outside McDonalds staring at the truck when he saw it collapse across the road in front of him.

“It was unbelievable,” he said.

“They were putting a pallet on the forklift and it toppled over. I don't know whether it was on unsafe ground or what but it just toppled over. I used to drive one and I can tell you they don't normally do that. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.”

Boots Optical employee Julia Lawrence added: "The small tractor and the digger had a collision and the digger tipped over. There were concrete blocks lying everywhere."

The area was closed to traffic immediately as police and fire crews, rapidly on scene, worked to clear the debris.

Newbury fire station's Heavy Rescue Unit, which is currently under threat of being axed due to budget cuts, was deployed to the site to assist.

Work was immediately halted at the Parkway site for the new shopping complex, set to open in October, and workers at the site were sent home.

A spokesperson for Parkway, Christina Gillings, said: “We can confirm that there has been an accident at Parkway this morning which has sadly resulted in the fatality of one of our site team.

"Our sincere condolences are with the family at this difficult time and we are assisting the authorities in every way we can."

A spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police, Marianne Stockton, said the Health and Safety Executive had been informed of the incident and officers would hand over the investigation as soon as it was practicable to do so.

Costain is fiercely proud of its health and safety record at the site, and in April 2010 celebrated reaching 500,000 hours without a single accident on site.

The record was held since the end of January 2009, when a pile driver had toppled on the site on Thursday, January 15, although no-one was injured.