DUNDEE, Mich., March 9 (UPI) -- A postal carrier in Michigan was killed when a porch collapsed and she was struck by a large piece of broken concrete, authorities said.
Veteran mail carrier Nancy Schafer, 46, of Dundee was pronounced dead Tuesday about an hour after emergency personnel freed her, using heavy machinery to remove a large concrete slab that fell on her, the Monroe (Mich.) Evening News reported.
Schafer was talking on her phone with a co-worker as the collapse occurred and was able to say that she needed help, Dundee Police Officer Tom Redmond said, but she quickly suffocated from the weight of the slab, estimated at 500 pounds, on her chest.
"I don't think she had much of a chance," Redmond said.
Schafer fell about 8 to 10 feet when the porch, built over a former entrance to a basement, collapsed and the concrete slab followed and came to rest on her.
The home's occupants were not home at the time, police said.
An investigation into the cause of the collapse is ongoing, authorities said.
