Weightlifter dies after 315-pound barbell drops on his neck

ANKENY, Iowa –  Authorities say a 22-year-old man has died after a barbell slipped from his grasp and crushed his neck at a gym in central Iowa.

The accident occurred Monday morning at Elite Edge Transformation Center in Ankeny, about 10 miles north of Des Moines. A spokesman for the center, Mark Yontz, said Thursday that Kyle Thomson was bench-pressing 315 pounds when the barbell slipped.

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.

Yontz says there were spotters watching Thomson on the bench.

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