Iowa man dies following weightlifting accident

Authorities say a 22-year-old man has died after a barbell slipped from his grasp and crushed him at a gym in Ankeny.

The accident occurred Monday morning at Elite Edge Transformation Center. A spokesman for the center, Mark Yontz, said Thursday that Kyle Thomson was lifting 315 pounds on a bench press when the barbell slipped. Yontz says there were spotters watching Thomson on the bench.

Ankeny Fire Chief James Clack says the barbell fell on Thomson’s neck. Clack says a fire ambulance took Thomson to a Des Moines hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Iowa State University spokeswoman Annette Hacker says Thomson was a student there and lived in Pleasant Hill.