Tragedy strikes as facility being finished
An electrician was killed Wednesday at the new National Guard Armory under construction in Columbia.
Marion County Coroner Norma Williamson said Austin Rucker, 22, from Bunker Hill was working on an 8-foot ladder when he was electrocuted.
After the accident Wednesday afternoon, first responders from AAA Ambulance Service, the Columbia Police Department and Columbia Fire Department gathered at the scene on U.S. 98. A medical helicopter was called in but was canceled before it arrived.
Billy Carr, project manager for Hanco Corp., the Hattiesburg-based general contractor for the $11.5 million project, said the victim was a subcontractor.
“At this time we’re working with federal, state and local officials as they are doing their processes,” Carr said Thursday.
Construction on the nearly 43,000-square-foot facility began in 2016 after the tornado that hit Columbia in 2014 destroyed the former armory on the site.
Lt. Col. Christian Patterson, director of public affairs for the Mississippi National Guard, said Thursday the work could be finished by the end of March. The armory will house Company A of the 150th Brigade Engineer Battalion, which is based in Meridian and is part of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team.
Employers are required to notify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration within eight hours of a fatality. An OSHA spokesman, Mike D’Aquino, did not respond to requests for comment about whether an investigation has been launched.
Services for Rucker will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hathorn Funeral Home in Columbia.
Pictured Above: An ambulance pulls away Wednesday from the Mississippi Army National Guard armory under construction on U.S. 98 following a fatal accident. Austin Rucker, 22, of Bunker Hill was killed. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
