By Bryan Gentry
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: May 8, 2008

Updated 7:20 p.m.

A construction worker died Thursday while working on a home in Forest.

Authorities still are trying to identify the man.

The accident occurred on Whispering Springs Court in the Farmington subdivision off Perrowville Road, according to the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office.

At 10:56 a.m., Bedford County 911 dispatchers received a call saying that a man had fallen at the construction site.

He apparently had fallen 10 feet from the first floor of the new home to the concrete basement, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

The body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Roanoke for an autopsy.

Officials from the Department of Labor were present to help investigate.

The news release from the sheriff’s office said the man was working for Thomas Builders of Virginia, the general contractor on the home.

Thomas Bell, president of the company, said late Thursday afternoon that the worker was not one of his employees, but the employee of a subcontractor that he refused to name.

“I’d rather people not know,” he said.

“It was just terrible that it happened,” Bell said.

Authorities say they have not identified the victim and are searching for family members. He was identified only as Hispanic in the news release.