The community has rallied around the family of a labourer killed at a Mitchell Freeway roadworks site last week, raising more than $500,000 towards his funeral costs and to support his family.
Barry ‘Duke’ Breslin, 35, was fatally struck by a concrete grate that was being lifted by an excavator when it fell near the Warwick Road southbound off-ramp around midday on Thursday.
Migrating to Perth from Ireland in 2011, Breslin leaves behind a fiancé and three-year-old son.
A GoFundMe page, set up to support his family has already raised more than $556,000 in just two days.
“Duke was one in a million. He was a family man at heart and a loyal friend to many around him, he will be sadly missed but not forgotten,” the fundraising page said.
“He was always up for a laugh whether it be greasing the door handles of a digger, giving yoghurt as sunscreen or being there to celebrate with his family and friends.
“[His family] and close friends both in Ireland and Australia [are] utterly devastated.”
In a statement released to the ASX on Friday, construction firm NRW confirmed it was currently assisting WA Police and WorkSafe with the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident at the Smart Freeway works site.
CFMEU State Secretary Mick Buchan said the union was conducting its own probe into the incident.
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