FELA Lawyer News Blog

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. — A Norfolk Southern railroad worker was killed after he was trapped in a mudslide while checking track conditions on Old Fort Mountain a few miles outside of Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Map showing location where a Norfolk Southern railroad worker was killed in a mudslide while working on a rail track on Old Fort Mountain in North Carolina on May 6, 2013. The accident happened a couple of miles outside Black Mountain, NC near Mill Creek Road.

The victim was identified as 33-year-old Joe Drewnoski of Waynesville, an assistant foreman who had been with Norfolk Southern for eight years. According to Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman, the accident occured near Old Mill Creek road where Drewnoski and a fellow worker were inspecting the rails around 2 a.m. on Monday, May 6, after a reported mudslide. It was there that a second mudslide happened knocking the worker’s special truck with rail wheels off the track.

Officials told the media that Drewnoski, who was outside the truck, was buried and killed, while the employee in the truck called for help and was rescued. Chapman said Drewnoski’s body was recovered about five hours later.

Drewnoski is survived by his wife, Ashley and three children.

“He was a family man, always with a smile on his face,” Ashley Drewnoski said. “Forever remembered and sorrowfully missed, he was one of a kind and truly irreplaceable. Joe was loved by everyone that met him.”

The incident remains under investigarion at this time.

Source: Black Mountain News

Blog post by Gordon, Elias & Seely, a FELA lawyer and North Carolina railroad injury lawyer who publishes train accidents and FELA legal news from across the United States.

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