New York City

Construction Worker Killed by Falling Excavator Bucket: Police

A construction worker was crushed to death by a bucket on an excavator on Saturday afternoon, police said. 

The worker was welding the bucket in the air at New Yor Recycling in the South Bronx when it fell on the worker, the NYPD said. The bucket weighed at least 2,000 pounds. 

A coworker called 911, but medics pronounced him dead on the scene. 

Family and friends arrived at the construction site on Exterior Street off the Major Deegan Expressway in tears throughout the afternoon. 

The NYPD was investigating but said there was no criminality. 

The victim's name wasn't immediately released. 

The fatality was the latest in a string of deaths among construction workers in New York City. In April, three construction workers died within a single week.

Nelson Salinas, 51, was killed by falling debris on April 18 as he was working on facade repairs at an apartment building on Manhattan's East Side.

Erik Mendoza, 23, was working on the roof of a 13-story building in Brooklyn when he fell to his death on April 10.

Gregory Echevarria, 34, of Brooklyn, was crushed by the counterweight of a crane in SoHo on April 13.

In May, a 49-year-old worker fell 30 feet to his death at a construction site next to Grand Central, police said.

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