On Monday, a man suffered dearly when his dump truck full of hot asphalt was unloaded upon him. Buried in the 300-degree asphalt, he died.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Darrell Sheriff, 41, was a private contractor who was working to fix a problem with the truck he was picking up for AJ Materials. Unfortunately, the tailgate opened due to malfunction and coated the man in the hot asphalt. It's unclear why the vehicle malfunctioned.
Although his death is being deemed as an accident, according to Jackson Police Department Chief Joseph Wade, they are still conducting a thorough investigation. Wade called the incident "horrific" and "tragic" as he addressed the press.
Man Succumbed To Burning Hot Asphalt
Wade had spoken to the victim's family on the scene. "They said that he was a good man, a hard-working man, just trying to make a living," he recalled them saying. Throughout the statement the police chief was extremely sympathetic to the family.
He was asked what went through his mind upon seeing the victim. "It was horrific, it was horrifying. It was something that you do not want to see," he said.
Wade said that people on-scene as it happened tried to get him out of the asphalt. He was alive as the scalding asphalt hit him. Despite their attempts, he succumbed to the devastating wounds.
"They said he tried to fight to make it through those injuries, but they were just too enormous for him to survive," Wade explained.
Police got the call at around 10:30 am, although he was long gone by the time they got there.
Wade maintained his sympathy for the family throughout the entire statement, "with the holidays coming up, to lose this gentleman, who was out here just trying to make a living, they're really hurt, but we're going to be here to support them and uplift them in prayer."
He initially didn't share the name of the victim to maintain the family's privacy a little longer.
