Carpentersville man killed by forklift

A 38-year-old Carpentersville man was killed last week by a forklift at an Elgin company.

Daniel B. Knabusch Jr. was pronounced dead Thursday afternoon at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, according to a news release from the Kane County coroner's office. The preliminary cause of death was asphyxia "due to a forklift mishap," according to the coroner. Toxicology samples have been sent to an outside laboratory for further analysis.

Elgin police and fire were called at 2:30 p.m. to Hitachi Transport System in the 300 block of River Ridge Drive, according to a police spokesman. Knabusch, who was operating the forklift, was found caught between the side of the forklift and a metal cage that contained freight, according to Battalion Chief Dick Cummings. He was not breathing.

Cummings said Knabusch's co-workers reported last seeing him 20 minutes before the event.

According to his obituary, Knabusch graduated from Dundee-Crown High School in 2001. Survivors include his two daughters; his mother and stepfather; his father and stepmother; four brothers; a stepbrother; and a stepsister.