By Khalida Sarwari
The California Highway Patrol and California Division of Occupational Safety and Health are continuing to investigate the death of a field worker who was hit by a truck in Salinas on Monday.
Alfredo Gonzalez Raya, 46, of Salinas, was killed at about 10:20 a.m. in a field at Cooper Road and Blanco Road, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
He suffered multiple blunt-force injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A preliminary investigation into the incident revealed that an agricultural truck backed up and hit Raya as he and a fellow co-worker were standing with their backs to the truck, Cal-OSHA spokeswoman Krisann Chasarick said.
Raya’s co-worker, 35-year-old Melchor Guevara, was also struck and transported to a hospital with injuries.
Chasarick said the incident appears to have been an accident.
CHP spokesman Robert Lehman said the driver of the truck, 48-year-old Mario Rodriguez, has not been cited or arrested, but, “Eventually there will be fault assigned to a party.”
Drugs or alcohol do not appear to have been factors in the collision, Lehman said.
Lehman said the truck, a large three-axle tractor used to haul harvested produce, was inspected and appeared to be in working condition. He said the truck’s backup alarm had been turned on but that Raya and Guevara had not heard it.
Both Guevara and Rodriguez are residents of Salinas.
The workers are employed by Church Brothers, a Salinas-based farm labor contractor.