Teen Dies on Family Farm in an Absolutely Awful Way

LANCASTER, Pa. (TheBlaze/AP) — A 15-year-old Pennsylvania boy died when a piece of farm machinery he was driving overturned in a manure pit and completely submerged him, authorities said.

Jonas King of Leacock Township was operating a skid loader Saturday morning when it flipped into the pit on his family's farm, the Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal reported, citing Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni.

He was belted into the skid loader and therefore unable to escape, the paper said.

It took rescue crews more than an hour to retrieve his body after arriving shortly before 11 a.m. The equipment was resting upside-down with only its wheels visible atop the pit, which is about four feet deep, the Intelligencer-Journal reported.

King was pronounced dead at the scene; the corner says the cause was asphyxia.

The paper reported that six local residents have died since 1989 as a result of falling or jumping into manure pits, which store waste from farm animals.

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