Sibley, Iowa — A construction worker was airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital Wednesday following a construction accident in Sibley.
Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls says that, around 10:00 am Wednesday, 32-year old Victor Barrios-Maldonado was working for Gabino Drywall and Siding, and was working on the roof of a building on 3rd Avenue, between 8th and 9th Streets in Sibley, installing a rain gutter system, when the mishap occurred. Huls says Barrios-Maldonado was holding a 10-foot length of downspout pipe when the pipe came into contact with a 72-hundred volt powerline. Huls says the electric shock knocked Barrios-Maldonado off the building, causing him to fall approximately 20-feet onto the concrete alley below.
Barrios-Maldonado was taken to the Osceola Community Hospital in Sibley, then airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital with what Chief Huls describes as “life-threatening” injuries.
Huls says the incident knocked out power in the area for a period of time.
