Father of two identified as construction worker killed on Highway 17

Katie Marzullo Image
ByKatie Marzullo KGO logo
Friday, February 10, 2017
Father of two identified as construction worker killed on Highway 17
Robert "Bobby" Gill was identified as the construction worker killed on Highway 17 Thursday afternoon. He was working to clean up a mudslide when there was an accident with a dump truck.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KGO) -- A married father of two was killed and another man injured in an accident with a dump truck on Highway 17 Thursday afternoon.



RELATED: Construction worker hit by truck killed in Santa Cruz County



Robert "Bobby" Gill from Los Banos had been working with Graniterock Construction Company for more than 15 years. He was working to clear the slide Thursday. That work is now suspended, we don't know for how long.




The company tweeted that image of the 54-year-old with their condolences Thursday evening.



"He was a beloved, well-respected member of our construction team and someone we are completely devastated by his loss," said co-worker Shanna Crigger.



The incident happened just after 12 p.m. a second Graniterock employee was also hit, but his injuries are not critical.



"We were flagged down by a passerby," said Trista Drake of Caltrans. "Luckily the CHP was right there on the scene. The medic got up here quickly. We expedited fire and ambulance to get the gentlemen who was trapped and extricated quickly and get him to Valley Medical."



Caltrans says work to clear the slide has been suspended and will not resume until the investigation into what happened is complete.



Until the slide is cleared, the Northbound lanes of Highway 17 remain closed at Vine Hill Road. Both directions of traffic are sharing the southbound lanes for a little more than a mile.



Caltrans had said the highway would reopen Monday at the earliest, but that estimate has likely changed since the deadly accident.



Click here to donate to an account to help Gill's family

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