Published: July 21, 2008 09:38 am      

Fountain man dies while cutting tree

COVINGTON, Ind. — A Fountain County man was pronounced dead Sunday morning after a tree he was cutting split and fell on him.

Dead is Thomas Bell, 47, of Covington.

Fountain County Deputy Coroner Joe Gritten said Bell was using a chain saw on a tree on land his family owns along the Wabash River west of Portland Arch. He died from blunt force trauma when a portion of the tree fell on him.

The accident happened Saturday, but it wasn’t discovered until about 7:30 a.m. EDT Sunday when a friend went looking for him.

Bell was a 1978 graduate of Covington High School and was a supervisor at Wabash National Co. in Lafayette.

DeVerter Funeral Home of Cayuga is handling arrangements.