By Maggie Reynolds
As the Bridgeville community reels following a fatal grain bin accident on a well-known area farm earlier this month, local farmers are calling for more safety training to prevent future deaths.
Two employees became trapped in a grain tank while trying to fix a clogged piece of machinery on Evans Farm — a 2,000-acre grain and produce farm just off Seashore Highway in Bridgeville — on April 10.
A crew of more than 75 first responders spent hours attempting to rescue the two men. One of the employees, a 20-year-old Bridgeville resident, was successfully removed from the tank and taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The second person, a 66-year-old man, was located in the tank and pronounced dead, according to a state police report. The man’s name has still not been released, a spokesperson for the state police said Monday.
The state police wrote in the report that its Criminal Investigations Unit is conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. The state police spokesperson told Spotlight Delaware that the Delaware office of Occupational Safety and Health – also known as OSHA – also responded to the scene.
Grain bins — large metal silos used to store dried corn and soybeans after they are harvested — can be especially dangerous to enter when full. Their contents can have similar effects to quicksand, making it easy to get stuck inside, and quickly be crushed by the grain’s weight.
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