Officials: Mushroom pallets crush worker to death at plant

ZELLWOOD, Fla. (AP) – A man has died after being crushed by pallets of mushrooms at a plant in central Florida.

The Orlando Sentinel reports Orange County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rose Silva says 45-year-old Bruce Edward Stephenson Jr. of Tavares was moving the pallets Monday with a forklift at the Monterey Mushrooms Inc. plant in Zellwood when the pallets began swaying.

Silva says Stephenson jumped off the forklift, but the pallets fell on him before he could get away.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Deputies and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating.

Monterey Mushrooms general manager Brian Hesse said he couldn’t comment due to the ongoing investigation.

The company describes itself on its website as an “international, multi-facility company with 10 mushroom growing farms located throughout North America.”