(CREDIT: Google Maps)

Aurora police are assisting in the investigation of an unusual, rail-related industrial accident that killed a 19-year-old man this morning (Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019).

(CREDIT: Google Maps)

Just after 9:30 a.m., Aurora police officers and Fire Department personnel responded to a 911 call for an employee trapped under large wood panels at a rail facility in the 600 block of McClure Road. When officers arrived on the scene, they found a man pinned beneath a large woodpile.

Firefighters and paramedics quickly used rescue equipment to lift the wood panels, but paramedics pronounced the man dead on the scene.

Aurora police detectives and evidence technicians responded to identify and collect forensic evidence and begin a death investigation.

Because the incident involved a rail car on rails owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail Way, officers from the BNSF Police Department responded, as did investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Investigators have preliminarily determined the man was removing the large wood panels from a rail car when they fell on the man. The panels are used in construction to support cranes or large equipment on uneven ground.

“It is believed that this was a tragic accident,” Aurora police officials said in a news release.

• FEATURE PHOTO CREDIT: WGN News

SOURCE: Aurora Police Department news release