A 58-year old man who fell in the grain silo on Monday died before rescue workers could get to him.

James McKoy of 517 Wanda Street in Laurinburg was found dead in the grain silo after a nearly seven-hour recovery effort.

"We responded to an agriculture rescue call," a fire official said. "We were told that a person had fallen into the grain silo."

Workers discovered that McKoy had fallen into the silo at around 5:40 p.m. Monday and rescue workers worked through the night, recovering the body at 1:30 a.m. from around 20,000 bushels of corn, according to officials.

The fire fighters vacuumed the corn out from around him, using boards cut on the scene and stretchers to stabilize the corn while rescue workers searched for McKoy.

Scotland County Rescue Squad led the operation, which also included Scotland County EMS, Scotland County Sheriff's Department, City of Laurinburg Fire Department, Wagram Fire Department, Spring Hill Fire Department and Stewartsville Fire Department.

The official also said that local businesses aided in the rescue attempt. He said that Murphy Brown sent a truck to help while supplies were donated by Lowe's and food was donated to tech workers by McDonald's, Domino's and Nic's Pic Kwik in Wagram.

Don Butler, a communications person with Murphy Brown LLC, confirmed that the company assisted in the recovery of McKoy's body.

"We did send some equipment to help remove the corn from the silo," Butler said.

He said the company sent a retriever truck to the silo, which he described as "a grain tractor-trailer that has a vacuum device that can suck up corn from one place and deposit it in the truck."

Butler was at a meeting in California and had no additional information or comments on the matter.

Officials believe that the corn got stuck as it was being sucked out, probably from moisture, and this created a pocket underneath the grain.

When McKoy went climbed into the silo from the top, he some how fell into the grain and it collapsed, sucking him deep into corn.

Officials said silo incidents are uncommon in Scotland County, with this being the first grain silo fatality in memory.

Health officials say nearly 100 deaths occur each year in grain bins, facilities and silos around the U.S.

More than 76 percent of victims of entrapment were involved in bin unloading activities, according to the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.