EAST PEORIA, IL : East Peoria man dies after electrocution accident on Saturday, 7th September 2019

An East Peoria man died Saturday after being electrocuted in a tree-trimming accident.

Gordon Sweatt, 62, of East Peoria was pronounced dead in the incident.

City firefighters and the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Department were called to the 300 block of Terminal Street about a truck on fire at 10:54 a.m.

On arrival, they found a tree-trimming bucket truck on fire after part of the truck touched an overhead electrical wire.

Sweatt was on the ground next to the truck, but rescuers couldn’t reach him because the power line touching the truck was still active and Ameren Illinois workers had to cut power to it.

He was pronounced dead at the accident site at 12:15 p.m., and an autopsy Monday confirmed the cause of death was electrocution, Tazewell County Coroner Charles Hanley said in a release Monday afternoon.

The incident remains under investigation by the sheriff and the coroner.

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