SR 25 construction cave-in kills one

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - A construction accident occurred Friday afternoon on the Hoosier Heartland Highway. It killed one worker.

According to reports, there was a dirt cave-in at noon Thursday that killed a worker on State Road 25 near Carroll County Road 300 North.

The worker has been identified as 30-year-old Arthur Kerns, employed by T.J. Lanbrecht Construction.

According to a press release, Kerns was working with the crew at the excavation site when a hillside gave and buried him.

The Carroll County Coroner's office, Carroll County Sheriff's Office and Indiana State police are investigating.

INDOT Spokesperson Matt Deitchley says this kind of accident is uncommon. He said INDOT has hundreds of projects throughout the state and safety is always the number one priority.

 "This is extremely rare and, obviously, a tragedy that we don't ever want to see happen. We do everything we can to make safety number one and make sure things like this don't happen. We'll continue to do that. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family members," Deitchley said.

It's not known at this time how this will affect construction progress come Monday morning.