Columbiana man killed in Cullman County accident

Published 6:09 pm Friday, February 5, 2010

A Columbiana man died in Cullman County Feb. 4 after he was struck with a large piece of steel at a construction site near Cullman.

Cullman County Coroner Gary Murphree pronounced 54-year-old James Lugar dead at the scene after a “rather large piece of steel” fell into a hole where the victim was working, Murphree said.

“We haven’t determined a cause of death yet, but I’m sure it will be some kind of crushing-related death,” Murphree said. “He was actually down in a hole digging when the steel fell on him.”

The accident happened at about 10:05 a.m. on U.S. 278 a few miles west of Cullman, Murphree said.