63-year-old dies after plunging up to 100 feet into ship’s smokestack, SC cops say
A South Carolina man died after plunging up to 100 feet into a ship’s smokestack, officials said.
The 63-year-old was working on the smokestack when police said he got inside of it and stood on a platform. Then the platform “gave way,” sending him to the bottom of the chimney-like structure on Sunday, July 17, according to the North Charleston Police Department.
After the fall, “crew members lost sight” of the worker but tried to stay in contact with him “until he stopped responding,” officers wrote in an incident report. First responders later found the man, who died from his injuries.
The incident was reported along Dry Dock Avenue, which runs near the Cooper River in North Charleston.
The man wasn’t wearing a harness at the time of his fall. It’s estimated that he fell 63 to 100 feet in what police called an “industrial accident.”
The U.S. Department of Labor told McClatchy News in an email that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating the case.
The Charleston County Coroner’s Office didn’t immediately share additional details with McClatchy News on July 20.
This story was originally published July 20, 2022 at 11:38 AM with the headline "63-year-old dies after plunging up to 100 feet into ship’s smokestack, SC cops say."
