Tractor Driver Dies Under Load of Manure

Mon Mar 28,11:03 AM ET

PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech tractor driver died under eight tons of manure in a bizarre accident that has baffled his employers, local media reported.

The 34-year old man, identified only as Martin T, suffocated after the load fell on him while he was dumping it in a field near the western Czech city of Karlovy Vary, news Web Site www.novinky.cz reported Sunday. "It absolutely beats me how this could happen," said Vladimir Erps, chief of the company employing the victim.

"The truck is operated from the tractor cabin, using hydraulics. There was nothing for him to do under the truck, but it's tough to blame him now that he is dead," the news site quoted him as saying.

Police are investigating the death as a work-related accident.