Massachusetts

Worker dies from electric shock at Cambridge AT&T building, police say

Cambridge police said CPR was performed on the worker, a Sturbridge man, who was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital

NBC Universal, Inc.

A worker was electrocuted on Tuesday inside of an AT&T building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to authorities.

Cambridge police said they responded to the AT&T on Bent Street — right across from the police department — about 8:30 a.m. for a call involving an electrocution.

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CPR was performed and the worker was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The worker who died hasn't been publicly identified. Police said Tuesday afternoon that the man was 44 and from Sturbridge, but his name wasn't released.

An inspector told NBC10 Boston there was a third-party contractor working inside the building, demolishing old equipment. The initial investigation leads them to believe a piece of equipment still had a charge, that shouldn't have been charged.

NBC10 Boston was told a worker came into contact with that equipment and was electrocuted.

In an official update Tuesday, police said the equipment the subcontractor was working on was an emergency lighting conduit. State and local police were investigating, as well as Middlesex County prosecutors.

Police said the power was shut off immediately and that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, was notified of the incident because it happened in a workplace.

"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of this contractor's employee, and our thoughts are with this person's family, friends and colleagues," an AT&T spokesperson wrote in an email Tuesday. "We're working closely with investigators and the contractor to determine what happened here."

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