The driver of a dump truck at a quarry in rural Crawford County, Indiana was killed nearly instantly when his vehicle plunged “hundreds of feet” into the “water-filled rock pit.” The incident happened on Tuesday, September 12 and details are only now beginning to emerge. He’s been identified as 69-year-old Bruce Vernon, of Marengo and his death has been ruled an accident.
Body of Driver recovered
Details of exactly how the tragedy happened haven’t yet been released but apparently the driver was somehow just a little too close to the edge and once the truck started to slip over, there was no stopping it. The vehicle weighed several-tons.
A statement notes that the “Mulzer Crushed Stone Inc. employee was driving the massive dump truck near the cliff before it went over the edge around 2 p.m. Tuesday.”
Workers who saw the truck plunge into the pit instantly called rescuers. At the same time, they started grading a path for first responders to be able to approach the water line. As for what exactly is in that water, nobody is giving any specifics. It probably wasn’t good but also apparently wasn’t toxic enough to keep a couple of divers from going in long enough to recover the body.
Man killed in accident at Indiana County quarry https://t.co/nCCtiOe935
— PA OSHA Consultation (@pa_osha) September 12, 2023
The driver didn’t stand a chance between the impact and length of time under water. Onlookers could only watch in horror, with no way to get anywhere close enough to help.
When “first responders reached the scene,” they had trouble searching for the driver due to “steep, unstable terrain” around the pit.
They were really happy that “employees with the company constructed a temporary path that helped conservation officers reach the water by boat.” for them to even enter the water.
Not a stable work environment
As soon as rescue teams could get a boat in the water they used sonar to locate the truck and it’s driver about 20 feet below the surface.
The way Indiana Conservation Officer Jim Schreck explains it, “as you can imagine a quarry is not the most stable environment to work in. For our searches, we have to make sure it’s a safe, stable environment.”
Their efforts were seriously “hampered by the terrain.”
Search and rescue efforts continue at Mulzer Crushed Stone’s Cape Sandy location after a dump truck went over an embankment into a water pit yesterday afternoon. Divers searched the area yesterday, and the search resumed this morning:https://t.co/3FOkhX6ZQK
— Morgan Jemtrud (@morgan_jemtrud) September 13, 2023
Recovery efforts included using a “remote-operated submersible” to confirm the position of the driver and how he was tangled with the wreckage.
A scuba team brave enough to face a questionable cocktail of chemicals in the water then pulled the lifeless body of the unfortunate driver out of the submerged truck, which was sitting upside down.
It didn’t help that the quarry site lies in a remote part of Indiana. Cape Sandy is described as “an unincorporated community that lies close to the Ohio River and is near the Kentucky border.“