Officials say 74-year-old killed in accident at W.Va. coal processing plant

Man dies in accident at W.Va. coal plant

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A 74-year-old man has died after being struck in the head with a hook that snapped loose from a tow chain at a West Virginia coal processing plant.

Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere said the accident happened Tuesday morning at the Adrian Prep Plant in the western part of the state. She said the victim worked for a company that had bought equipment used at the idled plant and had come to collect it.

The victim was helping workers use a bulldozer to pull an excavator away from a pond.

The hook broke off from the blade of the dozer and hit the victim, who was standing nearby. The man’s name hasn’t been released.

Working numbers couldn’t be found for the plant operator or owner. Louviere didn’t have the name of the company that bought the equipment.