RCMP and the coroner are investigating a fatal accident in Spallumcheen Tuesday involving a farm machine.
Emergency personnel were called to the 47oo block of Gulch Road shortly after 5:30 p.m. where it was discovered that a swather – which is a farm implement that cuts hay or small grain crops and forms them into a long line waiting to be dried out in the wind – had gone over an embankment.
The coroner’s office said an Armstrong man in his 60s had been taking the swather on a gravel road between two properties when the machine left the roadway and rolled down an estimated 25-foot steep embankment.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Armstrong Spallumcheen Fire Chief Ian Cummings said his crews were on scene helping with a difficult recovery.
“The machine was still on the side of a hill so we had a difficult time stabilizing the ground to make sure it was safe around it,” said Cummings. “It was extremely challenging for our members.”
No name has been released.