Two Workers Killed In Fall; Kingdome Closed Indefinitely -- Basket Drops 250 Feet Onto Cab, Injuring The Operator

The Kingdome, closed one month ago after four ceiling tiles fell, will remain shut indefinitely as state safety officials investigate the fatal fall of two construction workers last night.

Shortly before 8 p.m., the basket carrying the two workers fell 250 feet, sending the men to their deaths, when the crane arm broke near its top. As it dropped, the basket struck the cab carrying the crane operator.

The dead were identified by the King County medical examiner's staff as William Louth, 32, Portland, and Jorge Turincio, 39, of San Diego. They were employed to sandblast and paint by Long Painting Co., of Portland.

The crane operator, Charles Cox, 25, of Edmonds, suffered head injuries and was listed in satisfactory condition this morning in Harborview Medical Center.

The victims were sandblasting at the very top of the Dome's interior when the crane fell. The crane was operated by Ness Crane of Ballard.

Harold Ness, company president, said early today he has no information about the cause of the crane arm's failure. "Everything is sealed off for the investigation and we won't know until we can go in and take a look ourselves."

Flags flew at half-staff today at the Kingdome, and two bouquets of flowers and a Long painting cap were placed at the north entrance this morning.

The Kingdome has been closed since July 19, when the four wood-fiber ceiling tiles, weakened by years of aging and moisture, crashed into stadium seats shortly before the start of a Mariner home game.

The incident forced cancellation of 15 Mariner home games and the relocation of two Seahawk football exhibition games to Husky Stadium.

County officials, faced with paying more than $11 million in repairs and in compensation to the Mariners, have been under pressure to reopen the Dome for the Seahawks' first regular-season home game Sept. 18 against the San Diego Chargers.

Before the accident, the Seahawks had told Kingdome officials they must know by tomorrow afternoon whether the Dome would be ready for that game. A Seahawk spokesman this morning said the team was gathering information and he didn't know if tomorrow would remain the deadline for an answer.

Work shifts have been operating around the clock and on weekends.

But last night, officials hesitated to make any estimates about how this tragedy would affect the project.

Dick Sandaas, the county's new interim director of the Kingdome, said all plans will be re-examined.

"No more work, no more repairs until the investigation is complete," he said. "We've had a tragedy here, folks. Let's think about the families."

Investigators from the state Department of Labor and Industries sealed off the Kingdome last night and began investigating the deaths immediately. In accordance with state law, no work can resume until the investigation is complete, said Mark Brown, department head.

"We're not going to allow work to resume until we feel sure that no one else is at risk," Brown said. "How long that will take, we don't know. It could be a matter of a few hours, or it could be a matter of a few days. It's totally dependent on what our investigators find."

He said Labor and Industries inspectors will focus their investigation on determining whether the cranes were adequately protected from falls and whether the equipment was safe.

Falls from construction equipment rank among the leading causes of on-the-job injury in the state.

Outside the Kingdome last night, more than 20 painters and sandblasters who had been in the building when the accident occurred filed through the north security gate and gathered quietly on a grassy hillside.

Few wanted to speak to outsiders. One worker, who operates a crane during the day and was not in the Kingdome when the accident occurred, stopped by to console friends. Everyone was in a state of shock, said the man.

He said all safety standards that he was aware of had been met. "The job was going great, people were working real hard," he said.

In the past few weeks, construction crews have worked to pull off ceiling tiles and peel off a skin of tar-paper coating.

Earlier this week, workers began sandblasting the interior of the roof to remove an oily residue left when the tar coating was pulled off and to shake free small rocks lodged in a series of cavities found in the roof.

Sandaas did not say how many people were working in the Kingdome at the time of the accident, or how long the cranes had been in operation. The crane that broke was one of four in the Kingdome, and one of two operating at the time, he said.

The crane basket "flattened that cab like a pancake," said worker Bob McCormick, who was outside when he heard the loud crash.

Seattle Fire Department paramedics transported the crane operator to Harborview. The bodies of the two sandblasters remained in the Kingdome for hours, as state inspectors and King County police investigated.

"The Kingdome has been the subject of a lot of media attention and we want to make sure a thorough investigation has been done," said King County Police Capt. Ollie Moore.

Last night's fatalities were the first construction-related deaths ever at the Kingdome, said Carol Keaton, Kingdome spokeswoman.

Metropolitan King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer, a frequent critic of the stadium, said some officials had raised concerns that crews were being pushed too hard. But safety officials who had inspected the site beforehand seemed pleased by the work in progress.

"We went there on our own volition a few weeks ago while the tiles were being removed," said Brown, of Labor and Industries. "We were pleased with what we saw. The contractor in there was responsible, and was paying a lot of attention to safety standards."

Brown added that it's not unusual for a contractor to maintain around-the-clock shifts on a given project.

County Councilman Ron Sims, campaigning today in Spokane, said he had checked on the status of the Kingdome work earlier this week.

"There were a lot of hours being worked, several different shifts," he said. "But everyone down there seemed real optimistic and felt confident about meeting their prescribed deadline of Sept. 18."

Von Reichbauer appeared shaken by the deaths.

"All along we took comfort in the fact that despite all the financial problems that the Kingdome faced, at least no one was sitting in the seats when the ceiling tiles first fell. Now, even that last shred of comfort has been taken away from us."

Material from Times staff reporter Dee Norton and from The Associated Press is included in this report.