FFORDLAND, Mo. — Officials say a maintenance worker died when a Missouri television station tower collapsed and he became trapped under a tangle of metal and wires.
Rob Talburt, assistant fire chief for the Logan-Rogersville Fire Protection District, said the 1,980-foot tower near Fordland collapsed Thursday. Missouri State University owns the tower and uses it to broadcast KOZK Ozarks Public Television and KSMU Ozarks Public Radio.
University spokeswoman Andrea Mostyn said the workers were contractors from Washington state.
Talburt says six male workers were about 105 feet off the ground when the tower tumbled. Five workers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. A seventh man working in a nearby structure was not injured.
Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole said the workers were replacing crossbeams on the tower.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation.