A woman fatally struck by a tractor operator on an Oceanside beach earlier this week was a 68-year-old person who was homeless, officials said Wednesday.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Carol Aguirre.
Aguirre was asleep on the beach near the 1200 block of North Pacific Street when the operator of a large Caterpillar tractor ran her over, according to the Oceanside Police Department.
The driver, who works for Manson Construction Co., was removing a dredge pipe from the beach, the department said. He exited the tractor thinking he had hit a hole and realized that he hit a person.
Officials responded to the location, and Aguirre was pronounced dead at the scene.
Before the incident, a number of people expressed concern as the woman lay on the sand.
“One of the folks asked her if she was OK and she seemed to be OK. So I walked out, went surfing, came back and saw her laying on the beach passed out,” one surfer said. “And I was concerned about her, so I asked another surfer, I go, ‘Hey can you check up soon this lady because I have an appointment I have to get to.'”
It’s unclear whether the woman was in a construction zone, KTLA sister station KSWB in San Diego reported. Investigators don’t believe alcohol or drugs factored into the incident.
The Manson Construction Co. called the incident “tragic.”
“At this point, we do not know exactly what happened to cause the accident or why it happened,” company President John Holmes said in a statement Monday. “But we are fully cooperating with the Oceanside Police Department in their investigation.”