North Carolina Investigates Deadly Cotton Gin Accident

North Carolina workplace safety investigators are looking into what killed a worker at a Jones County cotton gin.

The Kinston Free Press reported Thursday that 62-year-old Dennis Foy of Trenton died from his injuries late Tuesday.

State Labor Department spokesman Neal O’Briant says Foy was moving cotton bales in a warehouse with a forklift. He was found on the ground surrounded by bales weighing several hundred pounds each that had fallen from a stack.

The company, its insurance company and the state agency’s Occupational Safety and Health Division are investigating.

O’Briant says it’s typically three to four months between an accident and any decision whether to penalize an employer with citations.