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FAIRMONT - Authorities are still sorting through the circumstances of the Tuesday morning construction accident on Interstate 79 that killed Mickey Swisher and left a co-worker in critical condition.
Swisher, 30, a union carpenter from Morgantown, was working on the bridge that crosses White Day Creek Road near the county line of Marion and Monongalia when an overhang snapped, causing him and two others to fall.
The third worker was uninjured, saved by his harness, said Rusty Marks, a spokesman with the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
Swisher was an employee of Triton Construction, the Saint Albans firm overseeing the project. One of the other victims was part of the Triton work crew also. The third was a subcontractor.
“We continue to mourn the loss,” Triton’s executive vice president Steve Diehl said.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family, friends, co-workers and everyone else affected by this tragedy,” he continued. “We have been cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities since the incident and will continue to do so as the investigation proceeds.”
There were 40 fatal accidents on worksites across West Virginia in 2024, according to the most recent numbers available from the U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics.