A 21-year-old construction worker lost his life Monday afternoon in Terrebonne after being fatally struck by the bucket of a mechanical excavator—a devastating start to the post-construction holiday period.
The incident occurred just before 1 p.m. on Florimond-Gauthier Street, which had been closed to the public for ongoing water infrastructure and road repair work. According to preliminary reports, the young man was working on-site when the excavator’s heavy bucket—estimated to weigh nearly two tonnes—unexpectedly came down, fatally injuring him in front of his coworkers.
Emergency services responded swiftly and transported the victim to hospital in critical condition. Sadly, he was later pronounced dead.
The exact cause of the equipment malfunction or operational error remains unclear. Investigators from Quebec’s workplace safety board (CNESST) arrived on scene shortly after the incident and have launched a formal inquiry in coordination with the Terrebonne police.
Fellow workers at the site are also being questioned as part of the ongoing investigation aimed at determining what went wrong and whether proper safety procedures were followed.
This incident is especially troubling as it comes just a day before another fatal workplace accident in Montreal, where a 31-year-old woman died after falling from a ladder at a school construction site.
The back-to-back fatalities have cast a spotlight on job site safety across Quebec’s construction industry, sparking concern as projects resume after the traditional summer break.
