Body of man killed in Botanical Garden accident to be shipped to Mexico

The son of the construction worker killed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden Friday said his father’s body will be shipped to his village in Mexico for burial as soon as the family can make arrangements.

Aquiles Chupin, 36, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his father, Angel Chupin, 66, was hit with something — he didn’t know what — and died instantly when a portion of a 40-foot-high walkway collapsed.

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Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating Friday’s accident at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

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Chupin said the family hoped to get their father’s body yesterday and hold a small religious ceremony. Then the body would be shipped to Juchitan, in the state of Guerrero, near the Pacific coast south of Acapulco. Angel Chupin had six daughters and four sons. He lived in Marietta, as did four of the daughters and two sons. The elder Chupin’s wife and the rest of the family lived in Juchitan. Aquiles Chupin, who also works in construction, said his father first came to Atlanta in the mid-1990s.

“This is something you cannot prepare for,” said Aquiles Chupin, speaking in Spanish. “These are the things of destiny. You have to resign yourself. One has to die.”

Chupin was the only man killed Friday in the accident at the popular tourist destination in the heart of Atlanta. Eighteen other men were injured, some seriously.

The garden will re-open 9 a.m. Monday. A statement from garden Executive Director Mary Pat Matheson said all admission proceeds and contributions the garden takes in from Monday through the end of the year “will directly benefit those impacted by this tragedy. This is just one way that we are planning to help those families who have been through so much turmoil.”

Grady Memorial Hospital nurse administrator Frankie Smith said a total of five workers had been discharged out of the 16 admitted there Friday. On Saturday, seven of the men remained in the hospital’s intensive care unit and four others were in “surgical beds.”

Two other injured men taken to Atlanta Medical Center also were discharged Friday night, according to the nursing administrator there.

Atlanta-based Hardin Construction has not released the names of the injured.

According to relatives at Grady hospital Friday, some of the injured workers were from Mexico or Honduras and were sending money to their families left behind.

Barkley Russell, spokeswoman for Hardin, said not all the injured workers were Hispanic or Latino. She said Hardin Construction did not know the immigration status of those who were. “It’s the subcontractors’ responsibility to check [on citizenship],” she said.

On Saturday, there was little activity around the site visible from Piedmont Road.

Russell said company officials visited the site, trying to sort through what caused the walkway to collapse. Chupin and all the injured men were working for subcontractors of Hardin. The injuries ranged from bruises to spine and brain trauma. A preliminary autopsy by the Fulton County Medical Examiner indicated Chupin died of blunt force injuries.

Hardin released a statement early Saturday, saying it was cooperating with federal investigators. It said its record of worker injuries was “dramatically below the national average.” The company said all subcontractors on the project were required to attend weekly safety meetings led by Hardin staff.

Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration records show Hardin had a handful of violations since 2000. OSHA investigators are set to return to the site Monday. By law, OSHA has up to six months from the date of the accident to issue its findings, Russell said. Once OSHA releases the site, she said Hardin will hire an independent third party to conduct an investigation.

Matheson’s statement, posted on the garden Web site, said OSHA would “thoroughly investigate the walkway and sequence of construction, paying close attention to the temporary nature of the in-progress construction. It’s important for people to understand that the permanent structure as designed by the architect and engineers was not fully in place at this time. The temporary structure would have been removed when the permanent structure is complete.”

The accident occurred Friday morning as workers were pouring concrete for part of the “Canopy Walk,” a walkway that would give visitors a bird’s eye view of adjacent Piedmont Park. Construction on the project — part of a $55 million makeover of the garden — is on hold.

Staff writer Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this article.