A construction worker struck by a towboat-propelled barge on the Missouri River has died of injuries he sustained from the accident, which occurred on Wednesday.
Fifty-one-year-old Rodney Stumo, an employee of St. Louis Bridge Construction Co., West Alton, Mo., was driving a johnboat involved in repairs to a train tressle in St. Charles County, Mo., when his vessel was struck and capsized.
Members of the towboat, operated by W.A. Ellis Construction Co., Kansas City, pulled Stumo from the river and brought him to shore, where a St. Charles County sheriffs deputy performed CPR before he was taken to a local hospital. Stumo died Thursday.
Prior to the accident, the towboat sounded its horn several times to alert Stumo, who apparently didn't hear it, a sheriffs department official told reporters. Stumo reportedly was wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident.
St. Louis Bridge Construction Co. is involved in repairs on the tressle's piers. The structure is located upriver from the Lewis Bridge, which spans between St. Charles and St. Louis County, Mo.
The U.S. Coastguard plans to perform an investigation of the crash