Mission truck driver killed in 'freak accident'
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The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office is investigating a workplace accident in La Joya where a truck driver was crushed to death, according to a news release.
Deputies with the sheriff's office arrived at a gravel pit at the 2200 block of Jara Chinas Road in rural La Joya at around 5 a.m. Tuesday.
At the scene, deputies were told an independent truck driver, who was picking up a load of gravel, was involved in the accident, the news release stated. Deputies observed the tractor had been crushed, and the driver — identified as 46-year-old Luis Rivera Jr. of Mission — was dead inside the cab of the vehicle.
La Joya fire Chief Leroy Salinas said at the time of what he referred to as a "freak accident," the driver was trying to unload gravel into the pit in a "jackknife position," causing it to fall and take the truck with it.
A justice of the peace ordered an autopsy.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration have been contacted to conduct an investigation into the accident.
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