A 56-year-old Morgan County man was killed late Thursday morning when he was crushed by a pile of pinto beans in a warehouse near Brush, the Sheriff’s Department said.
How employee Raymond Segura Jr. wound up under the pile of beans, estimated at more than 15 feet high, at a Kelley Bean Co. facility, is still under investigation.
Undersheriff Dave Martin said Segura was working inside a 80-foot-by-160-foot storage warehouse where beans are brought into the unit by overhead conveyor belt in bulk.
“He somehow wound up under this mountain of beans,” Martin said.
The Morgan County Coroner’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as Kelley Bean Co.’s safety team are investigating.
The Sheriff’s Department said it took an hour to dig Segura from the pile after about 55 rescuers rushed to the scene to help at about 11:20 a.m. Digger’s Diner, assisted by supplying hamburgers to the rescuers.
“The sheriff’s office wishes to express it appreciation to all of those who responded and we applaud their efforts and hard work in difficult conditions in attempting to rescue Mr. Segura, a tremendous community response,” the Sheriff’s Department stated.
Segura lived near Hillrose, which is a few miles northeast of Brush. Public records indicate he is a longtime resident of Morgan County.
Reached at the company’s Scottsbluff, Neb., headquarters, business development director Bryce Kelley read from a statement offering condolences to Segura’s family and declined to discuss the incident or the operations and staffing at the Brush facility.
“We have given our full cooperation to local officials and have crisis management counselors on site” to assist other employees, he said.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
