Authorities say a 52-year-old man has died after falling into a pool of water in a well house at a southeast Wyoming dairy farm where he quickly succumbed to methane fumes and drowned.
The Laramie County Sheriff’s Department says the incident occurred Tuesday at Carpenter and identified the victim as Erasmo B. Gonzalez, who lived on the farm.
Three others who tried to save Gonzalez also were treated for exposure to methane. Two were hospitalized overnight.
Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Don Hollingshead says Gonzalez slipped and fell down a 10- to 12-foot (3- to 3.6-meter) well shaft in the well house and landed in water that had drained off manure piles.
Hollingshead says attempts to save Gonzalez failed because of the methane fumes.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Source: Associated Press
