In Winston Groom's novel, "Forrest Gump", how did Forrest's father die?

"Forrest Gump" is a book by Winston Groom depicting the unlikely life of a simpleton who leads an exciting life. In the book, the author mentions Forrest's father in this quote:

"He worked down to the docks as a longshoreman an one day a crane was takin a big net load of bananas off one of them United Fruit Company boats an somethin broke an the bananas fell down on my daddy an squashed him flat as a pancake. One time I heard some men talkin bout the accident—say it was a helluva mess, half ton of all them bananas an my daddy squished underneath." - Forrest Gump

Forrest's mother received a pension from the United Fruit Company which enabled her to support the family.

In a 1986 book review by Kirkus Reviews, the anonymous reviewer described the book as a "stumbling, droopy-drawered attempt at a picaresque novel". The conclusion was "A heavy-handed, one-joke sort of novel which is, finally, a cheat". Publishers Weekly recognized the "on-target humor here" but said that the author "has written better books than this".

The novel initially sold an estimated 30,000 copies. After the 1994 film adaptation was released, starring Tom Hanks, the novel sold over a million copies.