A 20-year-old Woodlyne, N.J., man died in a landscaping accident at the former home of the Vallee & Bowe car dealership Tuesday afternoon while landscaping crews cleared out a wooded portion of the lot.
The unidentified man was leaning into a small Bobcat backhoe in an attempt to talk to a co-worker when his head was struck by a moving portion of the construction vehicle.
"Some part of the loading mechanism of the vehicle crushed his head," said Bernie Weisenfeld, spokesman for the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office. "This is believed to be an accidental death and will be investigated by the occupational health and safety administration."
When police and emergency personnel responded to the scene, the man was already dead, said Weisenfeld.
Tuesday evening, men dressed in green hooded sweatshirts watched as police roped off the scene with yellow crime tape. The 20-year-old's body was covered in a white sheet.
The man's family had not been notified as of Tuesday night.
"He has not got any relatives as far as anyone knows in this country," said Weisenfeld. "He is from Mexico."
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