Investigators are trying to determine how exactly a Michigan City man died
on Tuesday in an accident at a trucking yard on the grounds of
ArcelorMittal’s Burns Harbor facility.
Porter County Coroner Bob Schulte identified the victim as Mark R. Cripe,
57, who was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:15 a.m.
It wasn’t until an autopsy was performed this morning, however, that it was
established that Cripe did in fact perish as the result of a mishap, Schulte
told the Chesterton Tribune today. Cause of death: blunt force trauma
to the chest.
Late Tuesday morning, Schulte said, a contractor found Cripe beneath a fork
lift--or possibly a front-end loader situated near it--in the Bulk Transport
trucking yard and pulled him from beneath the piece of equipment. Cripe had
been repairing the fork lift at the time.
No one witnessed the accident, Schulte said, and Cripe’s removal from under
the equipment has obscured the chain of events which led to the accident.
The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified
and will conduct an investigation, Schulte added.
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