MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — A bulldozer accident has critically injured the 68-year-old former mayor of Burlington. Mount Vernon police said Roger “Gus” Allen Tjeerdsma was operating a bulldozer Thursday morning when it ran over him.

He was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where a nursing supervisor said he was in critical condition Thursday evening.

Mount Vernon Fire Department spokeswoman Erica Work says the man had stopped the machine and stood on the tread to speak to a co-worker. When he tried to get back into the cab, he bumped a lever, which made the bulldozer go backward. The tread carried Tjeerdsma with it, pulling him under the bulldozer.

Work says he suffered severe injuries to his legs and pelvis, as well as an injury to his arm.

An investigation of the apparent accident has been turned over to the state Department of Labor & Industries.

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