By CHARLES OWENS
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
— WELCH — A coal car derailment near Welch, and an unrelated collision between two tractor trailers near Bartley, kept authorities in McDowell County busy Wednesday.
Both accidents happened around 8 a.m. The tractor trailer collision shutdown Route 83 near Bartley for most of the day. The drivers of both vehicles sustained only minor injuries.
“It was the trailer of the coal truck and the tractor of the 18 wheeler (that collided),” Mark Shelton, chief deputy of the McDowell County Sheriff’s Department, said. “Both of them were 18 wheelers. But one was hauling coal, and one was hauling tiles to the new school construction site (in Bradshaw).”
Shelton said traffic was detoured off of Route 83 along a side road. Route 83 wasn’t reopened to traffic until after 3 p.m.
“The driver of the 18 wheeler that was hauling the ceiling tile was very lucky,” Shelton said. “If the guardrail had not held him halfway, he would have went over the river into the Dry Fork.”
Shelton said the cause of the accident remains under investigation.
In the second unrelated incident, a coal car got away near Welch, rolled down the tracks and derailed near a mine in the Superior community, according to the Welch Police Department.
No injuries were reported in either incident. The Welch Fire Department responded to the coal car derailment. A police department dispatcher said the coal car derailed on mine property. Norfolk Southern was contacted by authorities.
– Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
