Man electrocuted at Columbia road work site Friday

A man died of electrocution Friday at a road work site in northwestern Richland County near Irmo.

The Columbia Fire Department was dispatched at 2:10 p.m. Friday for an electrocution of an individual near a road construction site on Shadowood Drive, near St. Andrews and Bush River roads, department spokesman Brick Lewis said.

The victim, who has not yet been identified by the Richland County coroner, was assisting with road paving when a dump truck pouring asphalt either touched or came close enough to an overhead power line, Watts said. The driver of the dump truck was not harmed, Watts said, but a man on the ground close by was killed.

It’s the third workplace death in the Columbia area in the past month.

Earlier this week, one person was killed and another injured at a construction site in southeast Richland County when the scaffolding they were carrying came into contact with an overhead power line. The injured man is still in critical care at a burn center, Coroner Gary Watts said Saturday.

And last month, a 36-year-old man was crushed to death between a tanker truck he was working on and the bed of the truck at a business, also in southeast Richland County.

This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Man electrocuted at Columbia road work site Friday."