A construction worker who worked at the SIUC steam plant construction site died Wednesday after a crane weight fell, striking the man in the head and chest, a University official says.

Donald Sweeney, 45, of Metropolis, was pronounced dead at 8:15 a.m. at Carbondale Memorial Hosptal, a half-an-hour after the incident occured.

University News Service director Sue Davis said the coroner cited the cause of Sweeney’s death as a massive crushing of the head and chest.

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Sweeney was working for the King Lar Construction Company, out of Decatur, Ill., at the steam plant construction sight on South 51. He was a member of the Boilmaker union.

Davis said the construction site will remain closed while federal, state and local authorities conduct an investigation into the incident.