Crane operator killed in Oglethorpe quarry accident
![Scene from Monday's accident at Millstone Quarry where a crane operator was killed. [WSCG Radio Elberton photo]](/gcdn/authoring/2019/05/14/NABH/ghows-GA-88da5991-cb4d-309d-e053-0100007f3630-de80b08d.jpeg?width=300&height=304&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
A quarry worker was killed Monday when a crane he was aboard toppled about 100 feet into a granite quarry near Carlton, Oglethorpe County Coroner Howard Sanders said Tuesday.
The accident at the Millstone Quarry on Allgood Road claimed the life of Danny Roth, 58, of Carlton, he said.
“He was the crane operator and somehow during the process of trying to lift a granite boulder out of the quarry, something went wrong and the crane toppled over into the quarry,” he said.
Sanders is investigating the fatality as well as an investigator with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Two years ago in July 2017, another quarry accident claimed the life of Matthew Kanala IV, 36, of Elbert County, who was killed while drilling a section of rock at Blue Sky Quarry. A section of rock, estimated at 16,000 pounds, broke and fell on Kanala, according to previous reports.
The MSHA has said the leading causes for quarry fatalities over the years has been machinery accidents and “powered haulage,” referring to everything from shuttle cars to forklifts.