Father To Be Drowns In A Tank of Molasses

When you think about how you’re going to die, the last thing should be by drowning in a tank of molasses. Unfortunately for twenty-three year old Robert Herweyer, this is how the young man met his demise.

The newlywed just married Last November and was expecting a child with his wife Joy.

How could such an unfortunate tragedy happen?

On the morning of July 26, Herweyer was helping to clean a 12-foot-tall plastic tank of molasses at his work Agri-Technology in Saugatuck, Mich.,

According to his boss, when the level of the syrup got too low to pump out of the container, Herweyer climbed into the tank to adjust the valve.

“Then something happened which caused him to either lose consciousness or fall or something that resulted in him then being down in the actual molasses himself,” Allegan County Undersheriff Frank Baker told WOOD TV in Grand Rapids.

According to authorities, they believe Herweyer was under the molasses for at least four minutes.

Herweyer’s boss and owner David Alexander, grabbed an electric saw, cut the tank open, pulled him out and started CPR.

Allegan County authorities believe fumes or a medical episode might have played a part in his death.

According to the emergency room physician at Holland Community Hospital, Herweyer had syrup in his lungs and died from drowning.