Victim Identified in Somers Well Accident

Martin Petersen, 61, of Vernon, has been identified as the man who on Wednesday and died.

Hampden, MA police, who are now handling the investigation, said that Petersen was pronounced dead at the scene by Connecticut officials, prior to Massachusetts officials arriving.

The spokesman confirmed that Petersen was an employee of Stavens Bros., Inc. of Willington, and was working on drilling a well at the time of the incident.

Officers from the Hampden Police Department responded to a call at 5:48 p.m. from the Connecticut State Police for assistance at 215 Hampden Rd. in Somers. Connecticut State Police and a number of Connecticut area fire departments had been called to the address at approximately 1:30 p.m. for a worker who had fallen into a well.

 The Connecticut officials had worked on Petersen’s recovery and subsequently determined that the incident had occurred approximately 50 feet over the Connecticut line into Hampden, MA.

The spokesman said that the Connecticut State Police turned over the investigation and their findings to the Hampden Police Department. The Massachusetts State Police CPAC (the state police department assigned to the district attorney’s office) unit responded to review the incident, along with Hampden police. 

The investigation is currently being conducted by the Hampden Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, and the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents.