May 15, 2000

Two men died in a freakish accident at a trucking company in Davis County. A man and his nephew were killed when they fell into a tank filled with highly toxic material used for making asphalt.

The men were cleaning the large tank when they were apparently overcome by toxic fumes. News Specialist Jill Atwood reports from the R & M Diesel Company.

Two protective masks were found inside that tanker, but not on the victims. The question tonight is why weren't they wearing them?

It happened suddenly, and word of the accident spread quickly among friends, family and co-workers.

"FROM THEIR COLORATION AND THAT, I WOULD SAY LACK OF OXYGEN, FOR WHATEVER REASON."

Firefighters huddle around a lifeless body just pulled from the tanker. Police say Joshua and Kelly Thurston were doing some sort of maintenance work inside when toxic fumes got the best of them.

Lt. Steve Harder/North Salt Lake Police Dept.: "THEY DID HAVE MASKS IN THE TANK WITH THEM, BUT WHETHER THEY WERE BEING USED OR WEREN'T THE PROPER MASKS OR WHAT, WE'RE STILL INVESTIGATING THAT PART OF IT."

Word of what happened quickly left family members and co-workers visibly shaken.

Leo Thurston/Victims' Relative: "THE FAMILY OBVIOUSLY HAS TO OVERCOME THIS. IT'S DEVESTATING TO THEM, AND TO THE WHOLE FAMILY. WHAT CAN I SAY? THEY HAVE A LOT OF GRIEF AHEAD OF THEM."

Police say there was still a couple of inches of asphalt in the tank, and I guess it was quite sticky. There has even been speculation that the men somehow got stuck and just ran out of air.