A federal worker fell about 30 feet through a storm grate on the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, Wednesday and died, the agency said.
Akwasi Addae, an electrician at the NIH, was 45 years old, an NIH spokesperson said. A death investigation is underway.
Addae was doing repairs on the exterior of a building about 12:30 p.m. when he fell through the grate and into an air handling intake shaft, the spokesperson said.
The NIH’s occupational health and safety division says it has reported the incident to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Both groups are set to investigate the cause of Addae’s fall and “confirm appropriate safety measures are in place and followed.”
“We are deeply saddened,” the NIH’s statement said.
