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Man Crushed, Dies At Woburn Public Library Construction Site

WOBURN (CBS) -- A man has died after he was crushed under the building in the construction site at the Woburn Public Library.

Police confirmed the "young gentleman," who was a subcontractor for the Schnabel Foundation Company, died around 11:45 on Tuesday morning.

"The preliminary investigation suggests that the decedent, a man in his 30s, had been working alongside the foundation of the building when he was apparently struck by a piece of rock that had broken free," said the Middlesex District Attorney.

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A construction site in Woburn where a person died on Tuesday (WBZ-TV)

Initially, officials claimed the man was an employee of WL French Excavating, which the company denied.

WL French clarified what officials said in a statement: "At the time of the accident, Schnabel Foundation Company was working on the underpinning of the library and the deceased was working under their direction.  Crews from WL French were working on parking lot renovations when the accident occurred.

At the direction of the Woburn Fire and Police officials on scene, our machine was involved only in the rescue and recovery effort."

Officials stressed the investigation was ongoing at a news conference a few hours later.

"At this point, as I said, it's under investigation and the facts will come out shortly," said Woburn Mayor Scott Glavin.

Matthew Consigli, president of Consigli Construction said, "It's very difficult, on a project like this, and with a company like we have, there's a lot of comradery and people have to work closely together and sometimes they enter situations, so yes it's a very sensitive subject for me personally and especially for all of those who have been working alongside each other."

The State Police and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said they will also be looking into what happened.

The Library's $31 million addition and renovation efforts began in May and are expected to go until September 2018.

Construction has stopped for the day on Tuesday.

No further information is currently available.

Officials said that out of respect for the family, they are not releasing the identity of the victim at this time. 

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