EL CAJON (CBS8/CNS) - Authorities Tuesday released the name of a 51-year-old construction worker killed in a structural collapse at an East County job site.
Fernando Martinez was taking a lunch break in a trench at the site of a planned car dealership at Wagner Road and North Marshall Avenue in El Cajon shortly before 12:30 p.m. Monday when a concrete-block wall at the edge of an adjacent residential yard fell on him, according to the county Medical Examiner's Office.
The Escondido resident died at the scene of the accident. It took emergency crews more than an hour to cut through enough of the roughly 6- by 20- foot wall to get to his body, Heartland Fire & Rescue spokesman Sonny Saghera said.
One of the victim's co-workers suffered minor injuries in the collapse, Saghera said.
The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, was called in to investigate the fatality, as is standard in cases of serious workplace accidents.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to raise money for Martinez's family.