WHARNCLIFFE — An early-morning accident Tuesday involving a derailed train resulted in the toppling of a 200-foot tall coal loadout and the transporting of one employee to an emergency medical center by helicopter.

According to Gregory Blankenship, president of Cobra Natural Resources, a railroad crew was shunting an empty train into position to be loaded at the Black Bear Preparation Plant when five of the cars derailed. The cars then struck a portion of the loadout’s support structure. As it fell, it also caused a nearby building to collapse.

Two Cobra employees and a railroad conductor were injured in the accident.

“Two were only minor bumps and bruises,” Blankenship said. “The third person had leg and back injuries.”

He said reports circulating that the workers were trapped inside the building were false. Two were able to leave on their own power and the third needed assistance only because his leg was injured.

“Because he was complaining of pain in his back and leg,” Blankenship continued, “we took extra precautions and airlifted him to a hospital for treatment. No one had any life-threatening injuries.”

The other two employees were taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital to be treated, he said.

“It was like a big tower that had fallen,” said Jarrod Fletcher, Mingo County director for emergency services.

Blankenship said the situation is still under investigation.

Cobra is owned by Alpha Natural Resources of Abington, Va. The parent company owns 50 mines plus preparation facilities in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.