He was helping a neighbor clean her yard — before falling into the wood chipper

Police are still trying to figure out what could have ultimately caused a 54-year-old Australian man to fall to his death into a wood chipper on Sunday while helping a family friend with yard work.

In what police said were “absolutely shocking” circumstances, the man was reportedly working with two other friends to clear the brush off of a third friend’s driveway when the accident occurred, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“They are all friends and they were doing a favor for the lady that owns the property, sadly,” Maryborough forensics inspector Steve Webb told Channel 9 News.

At some point while clearing out small trees, the man fell into the machine and was killed “within a few seconds,” police told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“He was placing a tree into a tree shredder, (became) entangled within the machine and has died as a result of his injuries,” acting inspector Paul Algie told the Gympie Times.

“I went out there this morning to speak to officers from Brisbane and I'd have to say it's one of the worst incident scenes I've ever seen,” he told the paper.

There is no indication of foul play, police say, and police are trying to figure out what could have caused the accident to happen, Algie told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Everyone's obviously very distressed and we're still trying to work out the circumstances as to who has seen what,” he told the ABC.

Police are trying to see if some sort of safety violation may have caused the accident, and Acting Inspector Algie encouraged people to closely follow all safety instructions and maintenance requirements for their tools and machinery, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

Wood chippers have caused horrific deaths before in the United States as well. In December of 2015, a 19-year-old was killed after falling into a wood chipper at his job at a tree service in North Carolina, the Charlotte Observer reported. Only a few months earlier, a 28-year-old man was pulled into a wood chipper and killed at a Davenport, Iowa, work site, reported the Quad-City Times.

Since 1984, more than 200 cases of injuries or deaths from wood chippers have been reported in the United States to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

This story was originally published November 14, 2017 at 3:31 PM with the headline "He was helping a neighbor clean her yard — before falling into the wood chipper."