A 33-year-old man was killed Wednesday, Aug. 22, when he was struck in the head by logs that were being loaded onto his 18-wheeled tractor-trailer in a wooded area off of CR 2164 in Dolen outside of Cleveland.
Authorities say Matthew Aaron Sellers died as a result of his injuries a short time later.
Sellers, who worked for the South Texas Logging and Transport Company of Houston, was waiting on logs to be loaded onto his truck. For reasons unknown, he apparently walked from the driver’s side of his truck to the passenger side, near the rear of the trailer, which placed him on the blind side of the employee driving the log loader, according to a statement from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.
“As the operator got near the trailer, the load of logs struck Sellers in the back of the head before the driver could stop the machine,” the statement continues.
The accident was reported to authorities through a 9-1-1 call.
Upon the arrival of Deputy Lucero Castro and Deputy Ruben Garcia, CPR was attempted unsuccessfully. When EMS arrived, they transported Sellers to a hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
An autopsy was ordered by Pct. 6 Justice of the Peace Ralph Fuller.