Construction worker killed in Newton wall collapse identified

WCVB Updated: 3:54 PM EDT May 7, 2021

NEWTON, Mass. — Authorities have identified the construction worker who died Thursday when a concrete wall at a construction site in the back yard of a home in Newton collapsed on him. ... The man who died Thursday in Newton was identified by the Middlesex district attorney's office Friday as Russell Harron, 55, of Billerica.

Firefighters responded to the scene just before 8 a.m., Fire Chief Gino Lucchetti said. Rescuers needed specialized equipment to try and get to the victim.

"When we arrived, the collapse was on top of the person, and we had to dig him out," Lucchetti said. "We started our rescue operations and into our rescue operations we realized, at a certain time, that the person under the wall was not viable, and it turned into a recovery operation."

Harron was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled. ... No one else was hurt.

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