Plunged into a hole

Family father died in wood chip heater

Terrible accident in a wood chip-fired heating system (symbolic image).

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut (Symbolbild))

Tragedy in Neuhofen an der Krems (Upper Austria): Because a family father (70) did not return from agricultural work as usual on Wednesday, his wife (64) and her sons went looking for him. They finally found the missing man lifeless in a wood chip heater at a depth of two to two and a half meters.

The tragic incident took place in Neuhofen an der Krems when a 70-year-old farmer failed to return from work on Wednesday evening. His family, consisting of his 64-year-old wife and sons, initially began searching for him themselves. When they were unable to find him and realized that both his vehicles and his cell phone were at home, they alerted the emergency services. 

Heating was apparently faulty
In the days before the accident, the wood chip heating system had been defective, which quickly focused the search on the area of this system. The searchers discovered a hole in the wood chips, under which the screw conveyor was located.

Fallinginto a 2.5-metre-deep hole
The fire department was called in on suspicion that the farmer might have fallen into this hole. The firefighters began to shovel away the wood chips. At a depth of two to two and a half meters, they finally found the 70-year-old missing man, for whom unfortunately all help came too late.

According to the police, the farmer and family man was probably trying to loosen the pile of woodchippings with an iron bar. He apparently fell into the hole and was buried by the wood chips.