Boom truck accident reportedly broke vertebrae

OTHELLO — First-year Hiawatha Elementary School teacher Melissa Martinez was released from the hospital Tuesday.

Martinez was injured and Avista Utilities worker Robert "Bob" D. Smith, 50, was killed when the boom on an Avista utility truck collapsed while they were elevated 20 to 30 feet in the air to perform a science experiment, Othello Police Chief Steve Dunnagan said.

Fourth-grade teacher Kathy Carlton said Martinez was released Tuesday from Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane. Carlton said Martinez is recovering from her injuries.

"She had some broken vertebrae," Carlton said.

Students made cards for Martinez, and teachers visited her in the hospital, Carlton said.

Approximately 600 students in kindergarten through sixth grade witnessed the incident May 31, when they gathered outside to watch the "egg drop" science experiment. Students design cases for the annual experiment to protect an egg from impact when dropped from a height of 20 to 30 feet.

Avista and the state Department of Labor and Industries are investigating the accident.