Man Pronounced Dead at NIH After Falling Through Storm Grate

UPDATED Jan. 10 at 8:30 p.m.

Akwasi Addae, a 45-year-old National Institutes of Health electrician, died while conducting repair work on the exterior of a building on the Bethesda campus.

Addae fell into an air handling intake shaft, according to an NIH spokesperson.

The NIH Division Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS) reported the accident to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Those agencies will investigate the accident to help determine the cause and confirm appropriate safety measures are in place and followed, according to the spokesperson.

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A man was pronounced dead after falling through a grate at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda Wednesday a little after 12 p.m.

According to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue (MCFRS), the man was working on a storm grate and fell through into what was described as an underground vault.

Police and fire rescue workers at NIH extricated the man.

MCFRS was called to the scene, but NIH rescue workers were able to handle the incident without assistance, according to MCFRS.

DCNewsLive was first to report the story.