Man who died at Line 3 pipeline site run over by forklift

HILL CITY, Minn. – Authorities say a man who died while working on a pipeline project in northern Minnesota was run over by a large forklift.

The Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office has preliminarily ruled that the death of Jorge Villafuerte III at the Enbridge Energy Line 3 construction site was an accident.

The accident happened in the predawn hours of Dec. 18 while Villafuerte was checking a list of materials while standing behind an industrial forklift.

As the forklift started backing up, a co-worker jumped out of the way but Villafuerte was struck by the rear passenger tire, according.

The 45-year-old Villafuerte was dead by the time emergency responders arrived at about 7:17 a.m..