Woman is crushed to death by a tractor while laying on a beach in California after driver thought he hit a dip in the sand
A woman lying on a Southern California beach was crushed to death by a tractor that was being used in a harbor dredging project, police said.
The woman may have been asleep when the Caterpillar tractor ran over her at about 10am Monday near a jetty at Oceanside Harbor, north of San Diego, police said.
The incident happened along North Pacific Drive, just south of the jetty, the Los Angeles Times reports.
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A woman may have been asleep when she was crushed by a Caterpillar tractor at around 10am Monday near Oceanside Harbor
The incident happened along North Pacific Drive, just south of the jetty
The woman, who may have been homeless, was fully clothed rather than being in a swimsuit and didn't have any identification, police spokesman Tom Bussey said.
The tractor was being used to move pipes, police said.
The tractor driver felt a bump and at first thought he had hit a dip but then turned around and saw the woman in the sand, Bussey said.
The tractor driver felt a bump and at first thought he had hit a dip but then turned around and saw the woman in the sand. Beachgoers walk past roped off tractors at the beach
Just prior to the incident, surf instructor John Daniels said he witnessed the woman talking to a city worker.
Daniels started recording the incident, which happened roughly 10 to 15 minutes before the woman's death.
The video shows the woman lying on her side while dressed, facing the ocean. Next to her is a man in a golf cart who Daniels said works for the city.
The woman was fully clothed and may have been both homeless and sleep
Soon after the encounter, filmed around 9.48am, the employee came to talk to Daniels. Daniels shared that the worker had offered the woman water.
Daniels went back to work but soon noticed lifeguards putting a yellow tarp over the woman. He ran to tell them that she was just alive but was shoo'd off and it was then that he noticed the trailer.
'At that point, there is nothing you can do,' Daniels added.