YARMOUTH, Maine — A Farmington man died Friday when a street sweeper backed over him inside a construction zone along Main Street in Yarmouth, police said.
According to Yarmouth Police Chief Daniel Gallant, the incident happened shortly before noontime as the vehicle was performing work at the Route 1 bridge replacement project, which crosses over Main Street, or Route 115.
Paul D. Haley, 57, was identified by police as the man killed. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The street sweeper driver was being operated by Richard S. Mason, 30, of South Paris. Both were construction team members.
Investigators said Haley was working in an adjacent area to the vehicle at the time. Chief Gallant said some larger equipment had to be used to free him.
The construction zone, being administered by both the Maine Department of Transportation and Reed & Reed, Inc., is located at the Route 1 overpass.
Reed & Reed released a statement Friday afternoon identifying Haley as an employee of its company.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with our employee and his family," the statement reads. "Our immediate priority was to secure the scene of the accident and ensure the safety of all the persons on the site. It is too soon to know the cause of this accident, and we will be conducting our own internal investigation and fully cooperating with state and federal authorities in order to understand what happened."
Main Street was expected to be closed for several hours, police said. Traffic did not appear to be affected along Route 1. Drivers were asked to avoid the area.
Due to the incident taking place within a construction zone, OSHA was called in to assist in the investigation, as well as an accident reconstruction team.
Speed and alcohol did not appear to be factors, police said.
Anyone with information related to the crash is asked to contact the Yarmouth Police Department at 207-846-3333.