This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

March 12, 2005

Coal truck-pickup collision kills one

Cause of crash along Paint Creek Road still under investigation

By Charles Shumaker
Staff writer

A Handley man died Friday afternoon in a crash along Paint Creek Road that pinned his pickup truck under a coal truck and against a rock hillside.

Blake Campbell, 22, was killed when his truck was crumpled beneath the unloaded coal truck in a noontime collision.

The coal truck came to rest alongside the road in a ditch. The smaller truck was entangled with the coal hauler’s trailer. Their drivers were apparently traveling in opposite directions on the two-lane road.

Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies are investigating the cause of the crash.

The driver of the coal truck, identified as James Newell, 49, of Charleston by a Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher, was taken to CAMC General Hospital for treatment but his injuries were not considered serious.

Newell is a driver for KBR Inc., the dispatcher said. He was driving a truck with Long Run Transport on the side.

The dispatcher did not know whether anyone was cited in the wreck.

Traffic was diverted along Middle Patch Road for some time after the crash.

Several other empty coal trucks were stranded behind the crash. The truck drivers stood talking to each other while emergency officials tended to the crash.

Another driver traveling behind the crash in a Long Run truck declined comment. Company officials could not be located Friday afternoon.

Firefighters from several eastern Kanawha County volunteer departments responded to the crash.

Staff writer Dave Gustafson contributed to this story.

To contact staff writer Charles Shumaker, use e-mail or call 348-1240