Mine Accident Traps Man 8 Hours
- Share via
OCOTILLO WELLS, Calif. — An injured mining engineer, trapped in a locomotive covered with tons of gypsum ore, lay stranded for eight hours Tuesday before rescue crews managed to free him.
Leroy Witherspoon, 34, suffered minor injuries but remained conscious and alert throughout the ordeal. Officials said the incident occurred shortly before 3 a.m. when the locomotive he was driving into a tunnel-like loading shed hit the bottom of a hopper holding 200 tons of ore, sending its contents raining down.
It was the worst accident to befall the town’s major industry in more than 50 years. Matt Gonring, spokesman for the Chicago-based U.S. Gypsum Co., for which Witherspoon has worked for 14 years, said the engineer was driving his locomotive the wrong way when the accident happened.
Witherspoon, who lives in El Centro, was sealed in the locomotive, buried beneath the ore. Rescue crews headed by the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department managed to free him shortly before 11 a.m.
By Tuesday evening, he was listed in fair condition at Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley with a broken foot that required surgery. He also sustained a badly bruised shoulder, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Another employee of the Chicago-based U. S. Gypsum Co. who was on board the locomotive when the accident occurred managed to escape.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
