A Walt Disney World worker fell to his death last week while working on renovations to Epcot’s France pavilion in World Showcase.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office said authorities arrived at the 1970 Avenue of the Stars area in the theme park at 5:19 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12, reports PEOPLE. When they arrived, the Reedy Creek Fire Department found a man who fell. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and authorities said there were no signs of foul play.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Authorities later identified the man as George Walter Dewayne Grimes, 58, of Winter Garden, Florida. Disney told WKMG-TV that Grimes worked for SunBelt Rentals.
“We are deeply sadden to learn of loss of one of our team members in a tragic accident,” a spokesperson for Sunbelt Rentals told WKMG-TV. “We are working closely with the local authorities.”
Disney is renovating Epcot as part of the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World Resort in October 2021. Next year, Disney will open the Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure ride and a Beauty and the Beast singalong show in the France pavilion.
This was not the first time that a worker died at Disney World in the past year. In July 2018, Juan Alberto Ojeda, 33, of Kissimmee, was working on a utility cart’s battery when it jumped a curb and fell on him at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. Two other employees tried to lift the cart off him, but it was too heavy and they thought they would hurt him more if they drove it, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Disney did not comment on the report, but told the Orlando Sentinel the accident happened in an area closed off to the public.
Hours after that incident, another accident happened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. A man fell and hurt himself, but was able to call 911 and was treated with non-life threatening injuries.
In August 2018, John A. Korody was killed after falling into a vat filled with oil near Disney. Kody was employed by Harvest Power.
Just a few days after that incident, two construction workers fell to their deaths after a scaffolding collapsed at the new JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creed Resort. According to NPR, the hotel is surrounded by Disney property, but is not owned by Disney. The men were identified as Lorenco Zavala, 34, and Jerry Bell, 46. The cause of the accident was under investigation, and confused workers.
“I’m just thinking of where it could’ve collapsed, what part,” worker Joe Colon said. “[The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is] there every day, they go around taking pictures, that’s why I don’t get it. … I wonder if I knew them.”
The OSHA fined PCL Construction Services Inc. $144,532 and University Engineering Services $13,260 in March.
