IN Firefighters Recover Worker Who Died in Silo

Sept. 12, 2021

Indianapolis Fire Department rescue crews worked for over 10 hours to recover the body of a 32-year-old worker who died inside a soy bean silo.

By Brittany Carloni

Source The Indianapolis Star

A 32-year-old man died Saturday inside a soybean silo where he worked at Bunge Contractors near 18th Street and Montcalm Street northwest of downtown, according to the Indianapolis Fire Department.

Marvin Tyler, a two-year employee of Bunge Contractors, was removed from the soybean silo late Saturday night after a 10-hour effort by multiple agencies including the Hancock County Collapse Rescue and Hendricks County Confined Space teams, according to IFD.

Bunge stores soy beans and sends them to a processing plant in Morristown, according to IFD.

The first unit arrived at the site at just after noon Saturday. First responders located Tyler 100 feet down inside the 112-foot-tall silo, according to IFD.

During the 10-hour recovery effort, rescuers dealt with low oxygen levels and the "constant shift" of soybeans inside the silo, according to IFD. Vacuum trucks were used to remove soybeans from the structure to retrieve Tyler.

Bunge Contractors has begun an investigation into Tyler's death, according to a release from IFD. IMPD homicide was at the scene.