Abstract: At approximately 8:35 a.m. on December 17, 2001, a 17,500 pound precast concrete panel broke loose from welded supports and dropped approximately 14 feet. An employee (not with the erection crew and from another company) working below the panel was crushed between the panel and a concrete slab below. The 21-foot 11-inch by 7-foot 11.5-inch panel apparently broke from the top weld, twisted outward, sheared the bottom welds and dropped. The panel bottom crushed the employee while the top of the panel landed on the employee's vehicle located approximately 10 feet away. The impact ignited a fire in the vehicle. Fire and rescue units arrived on the scene to extricate the employee and extinguish the fire. The employee was pronounced dead upon the arrival of a Hennepin County Medical Examiner.