Two men killed in heavy machinery accident

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By George Mathis and Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two men were killed in Atlanta Thursday when a piece of heavy machinery they were working in toppled, officials said.

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The lift was on Dallas Street off the 500 block of Glen Iris Drive when it fell over at about 1 p.m., officials at the scene said.

Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com The lift was on Dallas Street off the 500 block of Glen Iris Drive when it fell over at about 1 p.m., officials at the scene said.

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The two men were performing maintenance on the Amli Old 4th Ward Apartment Homes when the accident happened around 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011.

Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com The two men were performing maintenance on the Amli Old 4th Ward Apartment Homes when the accident happened around 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011.

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Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com The equipment, described as an 80-foot lift, toppled at about 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011.

Photos: 2 killed when lIft topples

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The men, Rigoberto Lopez, 29, and Karlos Turner, 42, were working in what was described by emergency workers as an 80-foot lift. The lift was on Dallas Street off the 500 block of Glen Iris Drive when it fell over at about 1 p.m., officials at the scene said.

The men died from the fall, said an investigator with the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office. The lift was extended to a height of 40 feet according to emergency officials on the scene, who spoke with an AJC photographer. The medical examiner's office said the men were not crushed by the machine.

The men were working on the exterior of Amli Old 4th Ward Apartment Homes when the mobile lift got stuck. When the workers tried to move the lift, it fell onto a concrete walkway across the street.

Witnesses in the area said they heard the sound of the lift crashing to the ground.

"There was a big crash," Dave Delchamps told Channel 2 Action News.

Delchamps rushed over to see what he could do to help and saw the two contractors sprawled out on the ground.

"The first thing I saw was a guy's leg over the side of the bucket on the crane," said Delchamps, who called 911. "Another guy was in the grass."

Lopez, of Marietta, and Turner, of Dallas, were both transported to local hospitals, where they later died.

Turner previously owned his own building company, according to the Georgia Secretary of State's office. He was a 1987 graduate of Wheeler High School and was married with two children, according to his Facebook profile.

Information about Lopez was not immediately available Thursday evening.