1 killed by falling beam at suburban Chicago building site

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death of a construction worker, killed when a steel beam fell at a construction site in suburban Chicago.

A crane was lifting beams from a semitrailer Tuesday morning at a nine-story apartment building under construction in Evanston when the beam fell onto two workers.

Evanston police spokesman Perry Polinski says one worker was pronounced dead at a hospital. The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the dead man as 55-year-old David G. Bialas of Compton, Illinois.

The other worker, a 27-year-old Woodridge man, was hospitalized in critical condition.

Evanston Fire Department Division Chief Paul Polep says crews had to extricate the surviving worker as he was pinned under the beam.

OSHA spokeswoman Rhonda Burke said the deceased employee worked for Area Erectors Inc. of Chicago. A spokesman for the company declined to comment on the incident.