"This was a tragic accident, and we will conduct a full investigation to determine what led to it," officials said, according to WOFL.
A 62-year-old woman was struck and killed by a forklift outside the Florida hotel where she was staying.
The hotel guest, whose identity has not yet been released, was walking through the Beach Haven Inn parking lot when the forklift hit her, the Associated Press reported.
Officials said the forklift driver was moving supplies for repairs that needed to be made due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian when the accident occurred, according to the AP.
Due to the load of materials, the driver claims he was unable to see the woman and hit her, WESH reported. A bystander tried to tell the driver to stop, at which point he backed up and possibly struck the woman a second time, said the news site.
"The driver has told us that he was looking between the two loads – there was a small space between the two loads – and that he was looking there, and he never saw the pedestrian," Michael Fowler, spokesman for the Daytona Beach Shores Public Safety Department, told WOFL. "Unfortunately, when somebody told him to stop he backed up and most likely ran over her again."
The victim was taken to the hospital where she later died due to her injuries, WESH reported.
The incident is under ongoing investigation by both Daytona Beach Shores Public Safety and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration since it was a construction incident, according to WESH.
