Man dies at Columbia quarry in work incident. Second death connected to site in week
A worker at a Columbia quarry died after a collision between a heavy-material hauler and a pickup truck, according to authorities.
The Richland County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as 61-year-old Esau Belton Jr. of Elgin.
Wednesday, police and paramedics were called to “a work related incident” between a large Caterpillar truck and a pickup truck at 545 Georgia Street, which is the location of the Vulcan Materials rock quarry, according to the coroner’s office.
Paramedics declared Belton dead at the scene of full body blunt trauma, the coroner’s office said.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office are investigating the death.
The quarry is near the Olympia neighborhood in Columbia.
Only three days before Belton’s death, the body of a University of South Carolina student was found at the quarry, police said.
The student, Samuel Laundon, was missing for a day after friends last saw him jump a fence near the quarry early Saturday morning, according to police.
The incidents don’t appear connected.