Credit: Dennis Dreyer
UPDATED: Friday, 1:41 p.m.:
Officials have identified the victim as Gustav Propper, 51.
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Original Story:
A police press release from Friday morning says the man killed Thursday afternoon by the collapse of a 100-foot-tall pile of rock salt was “entombed.”
The pile collapsed as a 51-year-old was using a backhoe to move rock salt at the international port in Falls Township around 3:20 p.m., officials said.
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Authorities said the backhoe was covered in salt and rescuers tried in vain to free the man, but it was too late. LevittownNow.com is withholding the name of the deceased until the coroner’s office confirms all family has been notified.
“It was like digging a hole in the beach. The sides kept caving in when we were digging him out. We used heavy machinery and he was in the cab still,” Dippolito said.
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The Bucks County Coroner pronounced the man dead after crews were able to recover his body from inside the backhoe. The recovery took more than an hour.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Sources said the man suffocated under the salt.
The port is on the of the property of Waste Management’s landfill and is leased by International Salt. The port has a large quantities of rock salt that is delivered by boat, mainly from South America.
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A call to the coroner and Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Philadelphia were not immediately returned.
Firefighters from the Fallsington, Edgely, Levittown No.1 and Morrisville fire companies were called to the scene with additional companies covering them at their stations.
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