An Oregon homeowner was crushed to death by a 1,200-pound tree stump he was trying to remove from his backyard Tuesday night, in what officials are calling a “catastrophic accident.”
The man, whose identity has not been released, had set out to remove the stump from his home in the Russell neighborhood of Portland Tuesday night, digging around the tree stump by hand, according to the Oregonian.
But the equipment the man was using suddenly failed, “resulting in this catastrophic accident,” fire officials told KATU.
He was then left pinned by the half-ton stump overnight — with his spouse not finding him until around 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday.
Portland Fire and Rescue crews who responded to the scene then used a grip hoist to lift the stump off the man, but said it was too late to save his life, the Oregonian reported.
It remains unclear how long the man may have been pinned underneath the massive tree stump before he died.
The Portland Police Department is now investigating the scene.