A man died in hospital in a work-related incident over the weekend after succumbing to injuries sustained when he was attempting to remove two beetlekill trees which had fallen across Fort George Canyon Road off West Lake Road.
The man was hauling heavy equipment out to a logging site when he and the owner of the logging company came upon the trees lying across the road.
"When they were on their way out to deliver the equipment there were two fallen trees, and this is the part that we're still investigating, along with WorkSafeBC, the fellow that was hauling the equipment and the man who needed the equipment out there were both on scene and while they were attempting to move these logs off the road something happened and one of the trees struck the fellow," said Donita Kuzma, northern region coroner.
People on the scene tried to help the man and as there was no cell phone service in the area they headed toward town by car. Ambulance met the car that was taking the victim to the University Hospital of Northern B.C. where, after rigorous attempts to sustain his life, he succumbed to his injuries.
"We are investigating the incident to determine what happened, why it happened and how it happened, but beyond that we won't really be saying anything else until such time when we issue an investigation report which will be some weeks to months down the road," said Scot McCloy, director, government, community and media relations of WorkSafeBC.
The coroner said the name of the victim will be released when next of kin have all been notified.
