Credit: Submitted
For the past several days, firefighters from around Lower Bucks County worked along concrete workers nearly nonstop to sift through tons of debris that crews feared buried a 48-year-old Bristol Township man around midnight on Thursday.
On Sunday, search crews discovered what is presumed to be the body of Anthony “Tony” Gabriele, who was the only person unaccounted for when a massive silo filled with dry concrete mix collapsed.
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“They are hand digging [Gabriele] out now and disentangling him from the wreckage,” Bristol Township Acting Chief of Police Ralph Johnson said Sunday around 4 p.m.
The Bucks County Coroner’s office was dispatched to the Riverside Industrial Complex in the 7900 block of North Radcliffe Street in Bristol Township to take the body Sunday afternoon around 2:30 p.m.
Authorities confirmed Gabriele’s wife and family was notified at the scene by Father Dennis Mooney of Saint Mark Church.
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On Thursday evening, officials said the search would continue until Gabriele, who was working at the concrete facility, was found.
Bristol Township Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Director Kevin Dippolito said Friday afternoon that cranes were being used to aid in the search. On Thursday, two vacuum trucks were brought in to help clear some of the mix, and authorities also pinged Gabriele’s cellphone.
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“This is a combination of a building collapse and what we call an ‘engulfment scenario’ where all these potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds of dry concrete rushed down like an avalanche and bury everything in its sight,” Dr. David Jaslow of the Bucks County Technical Rescue Task Force explained to 6abc on Thursday.
Family and friends of Gabriele held out hope that the 48 year old would be found alive in the debris.
Edgely Fire Company Chief Carl Pierce told reporters the operation to find Gabriele was shifted from rescue to recovery around 11 a.m. Thursday.
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The Red Cross responded to the search location over the weekend to deliver aid to family at the scene.
The silo and Riverside Industrial Complex are owned by Silvi Group Companies. The company notes on their website that they operate a deep-water port along the Delaware River at the site.
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Inspection reports of the site from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) show no issues noted to the silos. Inspections were reported in 2004 and 2012, according to documents.
As of Sunday night, the cause of the silo collapse remains under investigation.
