One man is dead after plunging more than 30 metres into an empty grain silo at the Trois-Rivières port Tuesday morning.

Police said two men who worked for a sub-contractor were cleaning out the silo just before 8 a.m. when one of the men fell in.

Trois-Rivières Police spokesperson Carole Arbelot said the man had no vital signs when emergency crews arrived, and they weren’t able to immediately reach him.

She said it was a difficult operation for firefighters because of the height of the empty silo. They reached the man before 12 p.m. and he was rushed to hospital.

Police said the other worker was also taken to hospital and treated for shock.

Co-workers in shock

The vice-president of marketing and business development for the port, Jacques Paquin, said both men were experienced in the type of maintenance work they were doing.

He said the incident was shocking for the men's co-workers.

"Nobody really understands at this point how something like that could happen," he said.

Federal workplace safety investigators are looking into the incident.