As part of an $18 billion overhaul of New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, workers were moving utility lines near a power plant at the airport Monday when two of them were buried under construction rubble and killed. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, says Francisco Reyes, 41, and Fernando Lagunas Pereira, 28, were trapped under debris inside a trench, and were declared dead at the scene after their bodies were freed from the rubble, the New York Times reports. It's not clear exactly what happened, but ABC 7 reports the trench collapsed.
All construction at JFK has been temporarily put on pause so that safety reviews can be conducted, the New York Daily News reports. The Port Authority has also launched an investigation, and federal workplace safety and health officials were traveling to the scene Monday. The utility lines were being moved to support the increased energy needs the redevelopment project calls for; two existing terminals are being expanded and two new ones are being built. "Construction worker deaths have reached a recent five-year high, and this incident marks the third workplace fatality to occur at JFK Airport in the past month alone," says the city council speaker, whose district includes the airport. (More JFK Airport stories.)
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