Authorities in Garfield County have identified the 30-year-old man killed Tuesday in an accident at a construction site near Rifle.
Juan Manuel Tapia Tequida, also known as Efrain Cortez, died when he was trapped underneath several pipes weighing between 1,200 and 2,000 pounds.
County Coroner Robert Glassmire said Tequida was hit by three heavy-duty pipes that were 12 inches in diameter and 60 feet long and were staged at the edge of a trench.
“The initial reports indicate that the decedent accidentally loosened a board the pipes were resting on,” Glassmire said. “The pipes then started to roll, trapping the decedent underneath as the decedent and pipes went into the trench.”
Tequida was pronounced dead at the scene. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified of the fatality.
Glassmire said Tequida’s cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head and the manner is accident.
