UPDATE: Contract Worker Dies After Accident at CAFB

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A contract worker involved in an accident Wednesday (5-15)  afternoon at Columbus Air Force Base has died from his injuries.

According to Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant, 24 year old James Meyers, of Columbus, was working for R-C Construction, on the base, when he was fatally injured.

Early indications are that Meyers died from blunt force trauma.

Scanner traffic indicated that Meyers suffered some sort of crushing injury to his upper body.

Meyers had only been on the job for about 3 weeks.

Sources close to WCBI indicate that he may have gotten too close to a pavement milling machine.

The accident happened around 3 o’clock Wednesday (5-15) afternoon.

He was rushed to Baptist Memorial Golden Triangle.

Meyers is survived by his wife and 3 month old child. The investigation into the death continues.

Columbus Air Force Base confirmed that Myers was a contract worker on the runway project and not a CAFB employee.

Babcock Construction of Pheba has the $31.1 million contract to tear up and rebuild almost the entire center runway at the base.

The project is expected to be completed in September.

It’s the first rebuilding of the runway since it was built in 1958.

The runway is the longest East of the Mississippi River.