50-year-old Texas man identified as victim in fatal Minnetonka water tower accident

The man who died Friday afternoon while working on a maintenance project on a water tower in Minnetonka has been identified.

According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, 50-year-old Albino Chavez Rubio of Grand Saline, Texas, died of asphyxia when his body got pinned between a cable-hoisted bucket and an elevated walkway on the water tower.

Around 12:30 p.m. Friday, firefighters and paramedics responded to a report of an injured construction worker at the Woodland Water Tower, which is undergoing routine maintenance.

Crews freed the worker from his harness and tried to administer CPR, but the victim did not survive.

The autopsy report indicates that Chavez Rubio’s death was an accident.

The Minnetonka Police Department and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the incident.