AP reported that a longshoreman at the Savannah port died after being crushed by steel pipes that tumbled off a forklift. Authorities said that the worker, identified as 69 year old Mr Lee Fluker was killed yesterday morning.

Mr Bret Bell a city spokesman said that an initial police investigation shows Mr Fluker was working on the dock as steel pipes were being unloaded from a ship and carried away by forklifts.

The spokesman added that as one of the forklifts made a turn, the pipes it was carrying struck Mr Fluker and knocked him into the path of another forklift. The operator of the second forklift stopped suddenly, causing steel pipes to fall and crush the longshoreman.

Georgia Ports Authority police and the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration are investigating.