photo courtesy of Greg Palmer via KAKE, Wichita
Updated 11:30 a.m. Wednesday
Pottawatomie County Sheriff Greg Riat has identified the victims in the tower collapse.
The victims of Tuesday’s tower collapse in Pottawatomie County are identified as;
Martin Powers of St. Charles, Missouri, 38 year old male
Seth Garner of St.Peters, Missouri, 25 year old male.
Powers died at the scene. Garner was transported to a local hospital where he also passed away.
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Update-2:15 p.m. Tuesday
The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office reported that they received a call that a communication tower had collapsed Tuesday around 9:30.
The location of the tower was reported to be at Highway 16 and Rock Creek Road near Blaine. Sheriff’s deputies, EMS, Fire/Rescue, Kansas Department of Transportation, and Kansas Highway Patrol responded to the scene.
Upon arrival it was discovered that two towers had collapsed, one recently built and one that was older. Two workers had been on the older tower working, when it went down. One worker was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other was transported to a local hospital where he also passed away.
The workers had been at the site and were in the process of dismantling the older tower. Both workers were reported to be at a height greater than 250 feet when the towers collapsed.
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original story
KMAN received word around 10:30 Tuesday morning two cell phone towers collapsed near Blaine.
Pottawatomie County Fire Supervisor, Bruce Brazzle told KMAN four individuals were working on the tower, on the North side of Highway 13, later identified as belonging to Union Pacific Communications. Two workers were actually on one of the towers, when it collapsed for an unknown reason. Both workers were with Wireless Horizon out of Missouri, and died as a result of the incident, but law enforcement authorities have not yet released any identities.
KMAN will continue to bring you updates on this story as they become available.
