Creek County Construction Project On Hold After Deadly Accident

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says Eduardo Garcia was using a front end loader to move the rock on a temporary road through the river, when he backed off of the road, and into the water. The OHP dive team found the 36-year-old nearly 10 feet down.

Wednesday, April 10th 2019, 7:12 pm

By: Amy Slanchik

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A family is grieving and a construction project is on hold, after a deadly accident in Creek County.

The construction site above the Cimmaron River on Highway 48 is quiet the day after a Manhattan Road and Bridge worker lost his life on the job.

Body Of Missing Construction Worker Found, Identified OHP Says

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says Eduardo Garcia was using a front-end loader to move the rock on a temporary road through the river, when he backed off of the road, and into the water.

The OHP dive team found the 36-year-old nearly 10 feet down.

"He's way too young to have passed,” Michael Mobley said.

Manhattan released a statement, saying in part,

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to our team member involved in the accident, his family, friends and the remainder of the team affected. Safety for our workers is the top priority of our business every day..."

Mobley used to work in construction and understands what Garcia's co-workers must be going through right now.

"It turns into a little brotherhood of individuals who just came together for a job. And a lot of people like that, they move on to other jobs with the same people that they started with, so it's gotta be really rough for those guys,” Mobley said.

ODOT said construction was scheduled to wrap up this summer. OSHA is now investigating but there has been no word yet on if the investigation could delay the project. OSHA did not respond to our request for comment.

Amy Slanchik

Amy Slanchik is a proud University of Oklahoma graduate with a passion for storytelling. She joined the News On 6 team in May of 2016 after spending almost two years in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

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