A worker was killed last night in an accident at an eastern Iowa manufacturing plant. John Riches is a spokesperson for the Alcoa Davenport Works plant in Riverdale. “There was a serious accident last night that resulted in the death of one of our employees. It happened about 8 p.m.
The employee was transported to Genesis East (Hospital) by air ambulance and died a little after 9 p.m.,” Riches said. The employee’s name has not been released. Work at the aluminum plant was suspended for a short time after the accident and some workers went home early.
“While we don’t know the exact cause of the accident, we do have an investigation underway and expect to know more in the coming days and weeks,” Riches said. “I do know we notified OSHA last night about the incident.”
Riches said it’s the first fatal accident at the Riverdale facility since 2000. The plant employs about 2,200 people. The Alcoa Davenport Works plant hosted a visit from President Obama in June 2011.