Stagehand killed on set of Samuel Jackson film

Frozen sand, earth, ice fell on set dresser during ‘Jumper’ shoot in Toronto

Movie video

Will Cameron have another box office hit?
Dec. 18: Twelve years after his blockbuster, Titanic, hit movie theaters, will James Cameron’s Avatar have similar audience appeal? NBC’s George Lewis reports.

Michelle Rodriguez: Cameron tells a good story

Saldana: Seeing animated self ‘amazing’

Actors discuss ‘Sherlock Holmes’ wardrobe

Robert Downey Jr. on ‘Sherlock Holmes’

Slideshow

December movies
James Cameron’s spectacle “Avatar” hits theaters, along with George Clooney, who is “Up in the Air,” and Robert Downey Jr. as “Sherlock Holmes.”

more photos

Hollywood Reporter

updated 7:32 p.m. ET Jan. 29, 2007

TORONTO - A stagehand was killed on the Toronto set of the Samuel L. Jackson thriller “Jumper” when frozen sand, earth and ice from an exterior set rained on workers below.

David Ritchie, 56, a veteran set dresser, died instantly Thursday, a second man was sent to hospital with serious head and shoulder injuries, while a third man escaped harm.

Staff Sgt. Joanne Verbeek, a police officer with Toronto’s 51 Division, that sand and earth frozen to the wall for exterior design came unstuck as the set was being torn down and crushed Ritchie, causing his death.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

“It was just an unfortunate, fluke accident,” Verbeek said.

Ritchie was pronounced dead at the scene by police and rescue workers who were called to the outdoor location in the city's waterfront Portlands district.

Toronto shooting on the film wrapped Jan. 15. The film’s director, Doug Liman, and his cast, including Hayden Christensen, have since moved on to Tokyo for additional location shooting.