Worker drowns after falling off of offshore platform near Texas coast, officials say

A construction worker drowned after plunging from an offshore platform jutting over the Texas Gulf coast on Saturday, Oct. 1, according to search and rescue officials.

Around 1:45 p.m., Coast Guard officials in Corpus Christi received a call that a man fell off of a Kiewit Offshore Services platform and into the La Quinta Channel.

Along with a safety harness and tool belt, the man was wearing a manually inflatable life jacket, the Coast Guard said. But once they went into the water, they didn’t resurface.

The Coast Guard, police from Corpus Christi and Ingleside, a dive team from Aransas Pass, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department all began searching for the missing worker.

Divers found the man’s body around 5:30 p.m., according to the Coast Guard.

The worker was a scaffolding subcontractor, a Kiewit Offshore Services spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email.

Kiewit has a 555-acre facility in Corpus Christi, according to the company’s website, adding “we specialize in the fabrication and integration of large, complex offshore projects,” such as oil rigs.

“This news is devastating and our hearts go out to the subcontractor’s family, friends and coworkers,” the email read. “Nothing is more important to Kiewit than safety. We are working with authorities to investigate this incident and ensure something like this never happens again at KOS.”

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