PERRYVILLE MAN KILLED IN INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT

PERRYVILLE -- A 20-year-old Perryville man died Saturday from massive skull fractures suffered in an industrial accident.

Wesley Dean Hotop died at 9:13 a.m. at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Perry County Coroner Patrick Naeger said Hotop suffered the fatal injuries around 8:40 a.m. while working at NPS, a styrofoam manufacturing plant in Perryville.

Hotop was emptying a plastic bag of styrofoam chunks into a grinding machine. The bag got caught in the bottom of the grinder. "He tried to leap up and grab that bag out," Naeger said.

When Hotop grabbed hold of the bag, he was pulled into the machine, Naeger said. A co-worker immediately turned off the machine.

Perryville firefighters were called to the scene to assist ambulance personnel in freeing Hotop.

"They had to take some belts off and turn the machine backward to free him," Naeger said.

Hotop was a 1993 graduate of Perryville High School. He had worked at the plant for about two years.

The body is at Young and Sons Chapel in Perryville. Visitation will be from 5-9 tonight. A wake service will be held at 7 p.m. The funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday with a mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Highland.