A Gatlin Corporation employee was killed Sunday in an accidentat a Jackson bar mill, officials said.

Douglas Babb, 43, of Summit, was part of a crew performingmaintenance on a furnace at Nucor Bar Mill Group’s Jacksonplant.

According to a Nucor statement, Babb was caught when asupporting structure of the roof pivoted, resulting in fatalinjuries, around 2:45 p.m. Sunday. The exact cause of the accidentis under investigation.

Nucor officials said non-essential mill operations were shutdown following the accident, and the company has been cooperatingwith Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)investigators. Mill operations resumed Monday.

Bob Roberts, sales manager for Gatlin Corporation, which isbased in Brookhaven, said he was not at liberty to discuss anyaspects of the accident. He said it is under review by Nucor andOSHA, and Gatlin is also cooperating in the investigation.

“Everything we say would only be speculation at this time,”Roberts said.

Roberts said Babb, who was a contract laborer for Gatlin for10-12 years, was a fine man and very likeable.

“He will be sorely missed, and we’re very upset about it,”Roberts said. “It’s a terrible thing to lose a man like that.”

Jim Sheble, general manager of Nucor’s Jackson division,expressed condolences to Babb’s family.

“We are all saddened by (Sunday’s) events,” Sheble said in therelease.

Gatlin Corporation services manufacturing companies throughoutthe U.S. Nucor’s bar mill periodically hires a few extra workers tohelp with scheduled maintenance.

Funeral services for Babb, under the direction of BrookhavenFuneral Home, are Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the funeral home chapel,with burial in the Gum Grove Baptist Church cemetery. Visitation isTuesday from 4 to 10 p.m. at the funeral home.