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COPPERTON — An industrial accident at Kennecott Copper Friday left a man in critical condition.
A man "somehow became entangled with the wheels of a train" near 11501 West and state Route 201 about 9:15 a.m., said Unified Fire Authority spokesman Rob Morley. Morley did not know, however, whether the train was actually moving.
"The individual was a switchman. So that role requires them to move tracks, move cars from one track to another," Rio Tinto spokesman Kyle Bennett said. "We transport a variety of products, copper and byproducts included on their rail lines. And so that was what was taking place."
The man, whose identity was not immediately released, suffered "significant" injuries to one or both legs and was flown by medical helicopter to a local hospital, Morley said.
Bennett said the man, a contract worker and not an employee of Kennecott, had one of his legs pinned under a train.
