Man killed in Martin Tower work accident identified

The Lehigh County Coroner’s office has identified a Lake Hoptacong, New Jersey, man as the victim of a work site accident at the former Martin Tower property in Bethlehem.

Luke Marzano, 38, was pronounced dead at 11:50 a.m. Thursday at St. Luke’s University Hospital, Bethlehem after sustaining crushing injuries to the pelvis and abdomen, according to the coroner’s office. His death was ruled an accident after the autopsy was completed Friday morning.

The death is being investigated by Bethlehem police and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Cleanup crews have been removing the debris pile left behind by the May demolition of the former Bethlehem Steel headquarters.

According to scanner reports Thursday, Marzano was pinned by hydraulic equipment and was given CPR after he was freed.

After a dozen years of vacancy, Martin Tower was demolished May 19 in a spectacular implosion that reduced the 21story tower into a debris mound of 6,500 cubic yards of concrete and nearly 16,000 tons of structural steel.

Cleanup of the 53-acre site at 1170 Eighth Ave., which is fenced off from the public, was expected to take six months to a year, and the public has been warned not to trespass because of the danger of the unstable debris.

Owners Lewis Ronca and Norton Herrick plan to replace the tower with a mix of residential and commercial buildings.

The tower, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, opened in 1972 when the company was the second largest steelmaker in the world. It was named after Bethlehem Steel Chairman Edmund F. Martin, under whose leadership construction began in 1969.