Electrocuted road worker identified

Officials released the identity of a road construction worker who died after he was electrocuted Friday afternoon.

Richland County coroner Gary Watts said Javier Lopez-Lira, 36, of Concord, N.C., was on Shadow Wood Drive near Irmo loading asphalt into a roadway paving machine from a dump truck when the bed of the truck touched or came close to a power line. That caused the victim to be electrocuted.

The Columbia Fire Department was dispatched to the scene at 2:10 p.m. Friday and EMS transported Lopez-Lira to Palmetto Health Richland. He was pronounced dead at 2:59 p.m.

The Richland County Coroner’s Office and OSHA continue to investigate the incident.

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 3:30 PM with the headline "Electrocuted road worker identified."