Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Enterprise (Oct 28/05) - Two men from Fort Providence are dead after a work site accident in Enterprise.

Richard Martin Sanderson, 43, and Dennis Robert Thurber, 35, were electrocuted on Oct. 28 while installing a new communication tower, according to a news release from the Hay River RCMP.

During the installation process, at approximately 2:30 p.m., the men lost control of the metal tower and it struck live electrical wires.

Both Sanderson and Thurber were working at the base of the tower when it connected with the electrical lines. RCMP said the deaths were sudden. A third worker at the scene was not injured.

The site of the new communication tower is just off Hwy. 1 in Enterprise, about 38 kilometres from Hay River. The tower was being installed near a wooden hydro pole.

"Everybody's in shock about what happened," Fort Providence Mayor Maggie Levavsseur said Saturday.

An investigation by the RCMP and the Workers' Compensation Board. On Saturday two WCB officials were watching over the site.