Worker dies after accident near University of Iowa's art building

The University of Iowa says a construction worker has died after an accident while working to restore a flood-damaged art building.

Emergency crew responded to Riverside Drive, just south of Art Building West on the University of Iowa campus around 8:20 a.m. Upon arrival, crews discovered steel beam had fallen on top of a construction worker and had him pinned to the ground.

Crews took nearly four hours to remove the man from under the beam. Iowa City Fire Lieutenant Brian Rohr said the beam had fallen in a way that it was wedged to the point it could not be lifted off of the man. Instead, crews had to dig into the ground under the man to remove him.

The University of Iowa released a statement around 1 p.m. saying the man had died from the accident. Officials identified the worker as Kevin Dean Hammons, 52, of Washington, Iowa.

“It is with deep sadness that the University of Iowa learned today that an employee of a private contractor working on a flood recovery and mitigation project near Art Building West on the University of Iowa campus died this morning,” the statement read.

University of Iowa police chief Chuck Green said the man's death was a “tragic accident” but would not give further information on the details of the incident. He commended the efforts of the crews who responded on the scene.

“Obviously we had to rely on a lot of people and as far as I can tell it went very smoothly, a lot of cooperation,” he said. “We are very thankful for the fire department, rescue haz mat, medical examiners, Iowa City police as well as our police department here at the University of Iowa.”

Green said Hammons was not a UI employee, but was working for an outside contractor at the site as part of a flood recovery and mitigation project near Art Building West.

This is the second construction-related death on the UI campus in the past six months. On Aug. 30, a man fell to his death while working for an outside contractor. The man was working on window installation at the Boy Law Building when he fell 24 feet onto a concrete slab.

The incident remains under investigation.