People who live near the Eco Tech company are questioning the safety of the iron gate . They say they've seen it fall before and say it's difficult to pick up.

Police say Billy Thomas was found underneath it Monday night, after they say he was just trying to close it.

“The gate appeared as though it weighed around in excess of 1,000 pounds,” said Laurel County Coroner Kris Vanover.

Vanover says the weight of the gate falling on Billy Thomas was enough to kill him.

“You're talking about just a matter of seconds. I'm sure once the gate came down on him, he never knew what happened,” said Vanover.

Thomas was found with the gate over his chest.

“It hit him in the front. Most of the impact was to the chest. He did have a laceration, a minimal skull fracture on the top of his head, said Vanover.

The gate operates on a track and officials say somehow it came out of that track.

“It was kind of on rollers and nothing at the top to support it. Just rollers on the bottom, when he was trying to close it hit him in the head and chest area,” said Vanover.

Police are investigating but they say it appears it was just a freak accident