The Warsaw Police Department and other emergency personnel responded to a workplace accident, where a man was killed Friday.
According to Detective Sargeant Brad Keller, public information officer for the WPD, officers were dispatched to 2001 W. Winona Ave. at 11:52 a.m. The address is used as a staging area and offices for Meade, which is a pipe-laying company contracted to do work for NIPSCO in the area.
“Preliminarily, it appears a front-end loader was operating in reverse when another employee was struck in the process,” Keller said in a press release. “The accident caused a catastrophic head injury and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner.”
The identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of family members, but Keller did state he was an employee of Meade. Authorities are working on notifying the next of kin.
The press release also stated Thomas Patrick Lanham, 54, of Leesburg, was the operator of the front-end loader. Lanham also is an employee of Meade and is cooperating with the investigation.
“Currently investigators believe this to be an accidental death as there is no evidence of foul play,” the press release said.
An autopsy has been scheduled by the coroner, which is standard in a workplace fatality.
At the time of the press release at 4:46 p.m. Friday, representatives of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were on the way to the scene to conduct an investigation.
