Body Found After Worker Falls From Barge Into Water Off Bayonne

BAYONNE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A body believed to be that of a missing barge worker was found Saturday evening, a day after he fell into the water near Bayonne, New Jersey.

The 55-year-old man – tentatively identified as Danny Peters of Brooklyn -- fell off a barge and into the Kill Van Kull, which separates Staten Island and Bayonne, around 8:30 p.m. Friday.

Peters was an employee of American Petroleum Transport of Port Jefferson, and was a crewmember on a tugboat with a captain and three others, Bayonne police told WCBS 880.

At 7 p.m. Friday, the tugboat was bringing an empty barge to be loaded at Pier 1 of the International Matex Tank Terminals in Bayonne, Bayonne police said.

Around 7:50 p.m., Peters was getting off the tugboat, when the ladder he was climbing down slipped, police said. Peters fell about 10 feet.

When Peters slipped and fell, another employee threw a life ring to him, but he disappeared, police said.

At 6:45 a.m. Saturday, New Jersey State Police teams met at IMTT with Bayonne police to start a diving search for Peters. Divers went out at 10:40 a.m., and roughly seven minutes later, a body believed to be Peters' was found, police said.

The U.S. Coast Guard was also involved in the search on Friday night.