Emergency crews pulled the body of a 73-year-old man from a grain bin on an Illinois farm Monday afternoon after a frantic rescue effort.
Around 1 p.m., authorities had begun emptying the grain bin at Madey Farms in Genoa after reports that a man may be stuck inside.
Several hours later, crews removed the body from the grain bin and placed it in a waiting ambulance. Authorities later confirmed that he had died.
DeKalb County Police said a family member found the man's truck next to the full, 10,000- to 12,000-bushel bin but couldn't locate him.
He had been working on the bin because it was reportedly clogged, police said.
The 73-year-old man reportedly worked on the Genoa-Kingston Fire Department for several years.
Genoa is located about 25 miles east of Rockford.A 2013 Purdue University study showed a link between grain bin deaths and the charactistics of each harvest. Wetter harvests tend to spoil quickly and clog, causing more workers to enter the bins to unclog it.
