'scat' Ride Kills Carnival Worker On New York's Long Island

[News_Editor]

'Scat' ride kills carnival worker on New York's Long Island < br />

2012-09-04 05:57:44 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRENTWOOD, NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- A worker was killed on late Saturday when he reached under a spinning amusement ride at a carnival on New York's Long Island to grab something, police said on Monday morning. State and federal authorities are investigating the death.

The accident happened at around 7:25 p.m. local time on Saturday when the carnival worker, identified as 22-year-old Michael Austin of Mastic, had just gotten off of a break from his job at The Feast of Mother Cabrini fair in Brentwood, a hamlet of the Town of Islip in Suffolk County on the eastern portion of Long Island.

"He bent down and reached under the Scat ride to grab something," said Commissioner Edward Webber of the Suffolk County Police Department, referring to a ride which features spinning baskets on a rotating arm. "When Austin stood up, he was struck in the head by the ride and was knocked to the ground at approximately 7:25 p.m."

Webber said Austin was airlifted to Stony Brook Hospital by a Suffolk County Police helicopter but was later pronounced dead. "The ride, one of several at the fair that is being held at Suffolk County Community College, located on Crooked Hill Road, Brentwood, had passengers at the time of the incident but they were not injured," he added.

Both the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Suffolk County Department of Labor were notified and are investigating the incident.

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