By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A Howell man was killed in an accident while working on a pipeline construction project in Highland Township.

Deputies with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and crews with the Highland Township Fire Department were called out to the construction site in the area of Woodruff Lake Road and Center Road at around 2:30pm Thursday.

The Sheriff’s Operations Center advised a 49-year-old Howell man was pinned between a dump truck and a large wooden road mat, which was being utilized for driving heavy equipment on. Deputies determined the driver was standing outside of his truck between a large pile of the wooden construction road mats and the front driver side of his truck. When the excavator spun to load the truck, it impacted the pile of wooden mats causing a mat to be pushed into the victim - crushing him between the mat and his dump truck. Construction workers were able to remove the man from between the mat and the truck. Deputies and firefighters administered lifesaving measures and the man was transported to Huron Valley Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

The Sheriff’s Office says MIOSHA was contacted by both the pipeline company and detectives. The OCSO Chaplaincy Corps was requested to respond to assist the victim’s co-workers at the scene. The victim’s next of kin was notified at the hospital. An autopsy has been scheduled and the incident remains under investigation.