Grief counselors were called in to help console construction workers affected by the death of a colleague who was killed early Thursday when he was crushed under a 3,000-pound beam during work along the 405 Freeway.

Adolfo Figueroa, 42, from Lancaster, was working for Kiewit Infrastructure West on the $1 billion 405 Freeway widening project when he was fatally struck by a beam at 2:40 a.m. The incident occurred on an offramp at Santa Monica Boulevard. Figueroa, who's survived by his wife and three children, was hired by Kiewit in May 2011. He operated an excavator, officials said.

The death -- the first major incident involving workers on the freeway project since it began in 2009 -- shocked and horrified Figueroa's colleagues.

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