Landscape Contractor Killed after Snapped Rope Severs Arm

A Wichita Falls, Texas landscape contractor removing shrubs died after a rope pulled by a truck to uproot a stubborn plant snapped and severed his left arm, police said.

Alan Max Hutchison, 47, was also apparently struck in the chest and ribs Saturday by the sharply recoiling rope, Wichita Falls police Sgt. Van Dotson said. Hutchison died later at a hospital.

The rope broke on the first attempt to pull the shrub from the ground using the truck, police said.

Wichita Falls is about 20 miles south of the Oklahoma border, north of Fort Worth.