Father of four passes away Saturday morning
By Sam Catanzaro
Work has begun again at Los Angeles World Airports (LAX) after a construction worker and father of four died in a fatal incident over the weekend.
According to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, Juan Barajas, 39, of Bloomington, was killed Saturday morning.
“There is always someone better than each of us and he was one of them. That he forgot himself to serve his neighbor. A very happy person with a contagious smile that leaves many with a broken heart,” reads a GoFundMe set up to help Barajas’s family. Barajas is survived by his wife and four children.
Barajas was killed on the construction site for an aerial tram project near East Way and Center Way a little after 6 a.m., according to LAX.
In a statement sent to Westside Today, LAX says the incident is thought to have involved the collapse of a rebar column.
Barajas died at the scene despite resuscitation efforts by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and Los Angeles Airport Police.
On Monday night work several aspects of the project began again after being halted for two days while law enforcement authorities conducted an investigation.
“Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and LAX Integrated Express Solutions (LINXS), the developer of Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX) Automated People Mover (APM) train system are still reviewing what led to the fatal incident on the morning of Saturday, May 9, 2020,” LAX said in their statement “As the investigation continues, no rebar or column work for the APM guideway will take place in the immediate future. However, beginning tonight, several aspects of the project will start again. This includes underground utility work, construction at the APM Maintenance and Storage Facility and cast-in-drilled-hole foundation work.”
