MISHAP KILLS KELSO MAN

Darron L. Jansen, 23, of Kelso was killed in a construction accident Monday morning in Cape Girardeau.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter said Jansen was hit on the head by a steel beam about 10:50 a.m.

Jansen was pronounced dead from a massive head injury at St. Francis Medical Center at 11:52 a.m.

The victim was an employee of Dumey Excavating Co. of Oran, the general contractor on the Cape LaCroix-Walker Creek drainage control project in Cape Girardeau.

Carpenter said Jansen was standing on the ground when a 40-foot steel beam, weighing several thousand pounds, came loose from the hoist that was raising it and fell 20 to 30 feet before striking the victim.

The accident occurred behind the former Silo building on South Kingshighway at the intersection with Bloomfield Road, Carpenter said. The flood control project at that point is just west of Christine St.

Carpenter said Monday evening he still had several witnesses to interview regarding the accident. Accidental death is his preliminary ruling in the incident, he said.

Cape Girardeau police, fire and ambulance personnel responded to the scene.

Jansen, a 1989 graduate of Oran High School, was married last summer and his wife is expecting a baby.