Steelworker dies after industrial accident at Indiana mill

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — A steelworker who was injured last week in an industrial accident at a northwest Indiana steel mill has died at a Chicago hospital, officials said.

Michael Osika, 44, of Schererville died Saturday after being injured Thursday at the Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Osika was performing a routine repair when he was injured at the mill’s ladle maintenance area on Lake Michigan, Cleveland-Cliffs spokeswoman Patricia Persico said.

No one else was injured in the industrial accident, which remains under investigation, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported. Details of the accident have not been released.

An autopsy was performed on Osika’s body. But the official cause and manner of his death were pending the results of the autopsy, a police investigation, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration probe and his medical records.

United Steelworkers Union District 7 Director Mike Millsap said Osika, a member of the union, was inured at Indiana Harbor West — the former site of an LTV steel mill.