PHARR — A man died after becoming trapped under a box trailer Tuesday morning.
The death occurred at 4001 North Cage Boulevard, the location of Penske Truck Leasing, a truck rental company in Pharr.
According to a police report, the call was made by a 72-year-old man who said that his driving partner was stuck underneath a box trailer.
The men were reportedly coming from New Braunfels, Texas.
“We got the call at approximately 9:38 this morning,” Pharr Fire Chief Pilar Rodriguez said. “The call came in for a male subject trapped under a box trailer. Our first responding unit got there and confirmed that there was a male subject, I don’t know the age, that was trapped under a box trailer. It had come down on top of him.”
According to the report, the box trailer had a faulty air bag that the victim was trying to fix when “the box fell on top of him pinning him in between the 5th axle and the box causing him to suffocate.”
Rodriguez said first responders were able to quickly extricate the man, but attempts to save his life were unsuccessful.
“I thought it was an employee at first, but apparently he’s not an employee,” Pharr Police Chief Andy Harvey said. “What I know is that an individual was underneath a box trailer working on it, and the hydraulic lines or something caved in or stopped working and ended up crushing him. He died from his injuries unfortunately.”
His identity was not released, but he was described as a 50-year-old white male.
No further information was available as the Pharr Police Department continued to investigate.
