A tragic incident occurred on Wednesday in Cedar Creek Township when a 73-year-old man died while working on a waterline repair. Ronald Edward Aerts was found unresponsive by his wife, who alerted authorities around 4:12 p.m., as reported by WOODTV. According to the Muskegon County Sheriff's Office, Aerts was working in a five-foot-deep hole when the accident happened.
Emergency crews from Trinity Health EMS and the Holton Township Fire Department, who were promptly at the scene, declared Aerts dead upon their arrival, FOX 17 says. The hole, located in the 4300 block of Holton Duck Lake Road, was part of a project to install an underground line for a chicken coop. The specifics of how Aerts ended up in the hole remain unclear, with officials unsure if he had fallen in or crawled in and subsequently could not escape.
The Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Aerts was working on the project alone when the incident occurred, and no foul play is suspected at this time. The death is being investigated as accidental, and the circumstances surrounding how Aerts became unresponsive are still under investigation.
Details about the nature of the accident and the cause of death have not yet been publicly disclosed, deputies said, "the man had been working in a five-foot-deep hole to install an underground line for a chicken coop," according to a statement obtained by WZZM 13.
