A 31-year-old Reading man was killed Wednesday morning in a workplace accident involving a bucket truck and an electrical power line in Exeter Township, according to the Berks County Coroner’s Office.
Emergency crews were dispatched at 10:54 a.m. to the rear of a private residence in the 4000 block of Grant Street after receiving a report of a worker in a bucket truck who had come into contact with a power line.
According to Berks County Coroner Matthew J. Stitzel, the victim was employed by a local tree service company and had been trimming a hedgerow when the equipment he was operating reportedly contacted an electrical power line.
Emergency responders arrived and began investigating the incident. The Coroner’s Office was notified and responded to the scene at 11:33 a.m.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was notified and was sending an investigator from Harrisburg to assist with the workplace safety investigation.
The Berks County Coroner’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Exeter Township Police Department, Exeter Fire Company, Penn State Health EMS, and Met-Ed.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday at Reading Hospital. The cause and manner of death remain under investigation.
