August 6, 2013 6:17 AM
MONTREAL — A 32-year-old man, Saad Syed, was killed after being struck by a steel plate in front of a construction site at the corner of René Lévesque Blvd. and de la Montagne St. Monday morning.
Syed was walking on the sidewalk on the east side of de la Montagne just north of René Lévesque while the plate was being moved. The accident happened just after 8:40 a.m. when the chain holding the plate broke, police said.
Twenty minutes after the accident the man's shoes, glasses and backpack were strewn across the sidewalk and street, along with medical gloves and first aid supplies.
Construction workers on site, their first day back at wortk after the construction holiday, told The Gazette that the steel plate, which measures 12 feet by 8 feet and is three-quarters-of-an-inch thick, is used to cover construction holes so that trucks can drive over them.
The workers estimate the plate weighs almost three tons.
A front-end payloader was moving the plate, suspended by a chain, when the plate broke free, hitting the man in the head. Witnesses told The Gazette they thought he died on impact.
After the accident the man was dragged out from under the plate by workers who tried to administer first aid before police and ambulances arrived.
"The technicians performed CPR on him and he was taken to the General, which is very close. They could do nothing for him (at the hospital) and he was declared dead."
Falling metal plate kills pedestrian at construction site - YouTube