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SALT LAKE CITY — A man was killed after a vehicle he was working on fell on top of him Wednesday night.
The incident happened at a parking lot near 1800 West and Kimberly Circle early Wednesday evening. According to Salt Lake City police, a 49-year-old man was working on a car with a friend. Police said the friend left the man for about 20 minutes. When the friend returned, she realized the car fell on the 49-year-old man.
“It seems like he was working on the car; we could see that there’s tools around the vehicle, and maybe the jack failed and the car fell on top of him,” said Salt Lake City Police Lt. Robin Heiden.
The friend and neighbors were able to remove the man from underneath the vehicle. Emergency crews took the man to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The identity of the victim was not released. A neighbor said the man had been working on the vehicle for almost two weeks.
Heiden said police will take the jack to check if it malfunctioned. “With this jack, I don’t know if it slipped out from under there or if it came down,” she said.
Police said the incident doesn’t look suspicious. “It looks like it was a tragic accident,” Heiden said.
Heiden advised the public to have a person nearby when working underneath a vehicle.
“Always be careful. Make sure that someone is around when working on a vehicle,” she said.
Contributing: Ashley Moser
