A worker moving rock salt was killed when a pile collapsed and consumed him Thursday afternoon at a facility in suburban Philadelphia.

According to reports, the worker had been operating a front-end loader when the 100-foot pile collapsed. Details about what exactly happened were not available at the time of publication, but reports said the man died of suffocation.

The mineral pile came crashing down, burying the industrial machine and trapping the man inside. Rescue workers were dispatched to the salt-storage facility run by Salt International at New Ford Mill Road and Bordentown Road in Morrisville, Bucks County. They went searching for him using shovels and found his lifeless body still seated in the loader.

The company is presently working with investigators to determine the cause of the accident, according to a report by Philly.com.

The accident happened just as large parts of the northeast region of the United States braced itself for heavy snowstorms. The facility stores much of the salt used to clear ice and snow from roads in the area.

--------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.

Check out our official website: http://us.tomonews.net/

For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS

Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS

Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS