Massachusetts police said a truck driver has died after being buried in wood chips he was trying to unload at a site leased by his company, the Standard Times of New Bedford reported today, Jan. 11.
Freetown Police Chief Carlton Abbott told the newspaper that the man was using a conveyor belt to unload when he went into the bed of his truck’s trailer to try to free some stuck chips. He stood on a pile of chips and was engulfed when the chips shifted, Abbott told the Standard Times.
The 41-year-old driver, whose name was not immediately released, worked for Haynes Trucking of Colebrook, N.H., Abbott told the newspaper. Police said he’s believed to have suffocated, but the state medical examiner will make a final ruling, the Standard Times reported; the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also is investigating.
