A truck lies on its side after it tipped at a construction site near Frenchtown Road on Tuesday, critically injuring its driver.

PHOTO COURTESY NORTH KINGSTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT

NORTH KINGSTOWN — The police yesterday identified the man critically injured after the massive dump truck he was driving flipped at a Route 403 construction site Tuesday as a 60-year-old Cumberland man.

The police say Thaddeus Stenovitch, of Willcroft Street, was operating a truck, referred to as a Euclid, in a construction zone near Frenchtown Road around 2:44 p.m., when he lost control of the vehicle as he backed toward a steep embankment to dump a load of loam. The truck began sliding backwards and did at least one complete rotation before coming to a stop, reports show.

Stenovitch, who was not wearing a seat belt, sustained life-threatening injuries to his head and torso after being thrown about the cab, the police say. He was not breathing when witnesses found him outside the vehicle. He was flown by helicopter to Rhode Island Hospital after one of his coworkers administered CPR.

He was listed in critical condition yesterday, Capt. Charles Brennan said.

Brennan said the police did not find anything faulty with the truck.

“We think it was just an accident … The ground gave free” under the vehicle’s weight, he said.

The truck, which was righted by crane, is owned by the Cardi Corp., the company undertaking the Route 403 relocation project for the state Department of Transportation, the police said.

The accident is being investigated by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

kmulvane@projo.com