After more than three days of searching, firefighters Sunday found the body of a worker who was missing after a silo filled with cement collapsed in Bristol Township, township police said.
The missing worker was identified as Anthony Gabriele, 48, of Tullytown. The collapse happened at the Riverside Cement distribution facility in the Riverside Industrial Complex.
At 4:45 p.m., searchers were digging the body out of the wreckage by hand, according to a police department news release. Video that recorded Gabriele's final moments showed him inside the silo's control room when the structure collapsed, Bristol Police Chief Ralph Johnson said.
"Based on his position in the video, firefighters were able to deduce where in the rubble he would most likely be found," he said. "Firefighters focused their efforts in that area and located Mr. Gabriele."
The Bucks County coroner removed the body, police said.
Gabriele's family was at the scene of the collapse awaiting news when firefighters discovered his body, Johnson said, and they received notification there.
Police, fire, and medical technicians had worked through freezing temperatures since Thursday to find Gabriele, Johnson said. They were assisted by construction and engineering professionals and personnel from Silvi Group, Riverside Cement's parent company, he said.
By Sunday, 70 firefighters from 10 departments were helping the recovery effort, said Carl Pierce, chief of the Edgely Fire Company in Levittown. Work included vacuuming and digging by hand through tons of powdery cement.
A Bristol Twp. patrol officer discovered the collapse of the 125-foot silo about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, police said. The site is in the 7900 block of North Radcliffe Street. The debris was piled as high as 40 feet.
An OSHA investigation into the collapse remained open Sunday night, a Labor Department spokeswoman said.
No one could be reached Sunday at Riverside Cement or Silvi.
Emergency responders had not left the scene since the collapse was reported before dawn Thursday, Pierce said, even though it was soon apparent Gabriele could not have survived.
"We promised the family from the get-go that we wouldn't leave until we brought him out," Pierce said.
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