WASHINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — A Michigan man died of compressional asphyxia after being trapped under an electrical control box at Caterpillar’s Peoria Proving Grounds.
Tazewell County Coroner Chuck Hanley said Justin Perry, 36, of Kingsford, Mich., was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday. He was a subcontractor working at the rural Washington facility.
Caterpillar contractor from Michigan dies at Peoria Proving Ground facility
Kingsford is a small city of 5,000 people in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near the Wisconsin border.
Officials were called to the proving grounds shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a fatal accident. No further details on what happened beyond Perry being trapped have been publicly released.
In a statement released by the company, Caterpillar said it was “deeply saddened by the death of a contractor at our Peoria Proving Ground facility on Aug. 7 and are working with authorities as the incident is investigated. We will have counselors onsite for our facility employees, and our thoughts are with the affected family, friends and colleagues.”
The cause of death was determined at an autopsy done Friday. The matter, Hanley said, remains under investigation by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office, and the coroner’s office.
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