A man who was fatally injured in a farming accident Thursday night near White Plains has been identified.

Antioco “George” Yanez, 37, died after a round bale of hay he was lifting with the forks of a tractor fell on him, a county emergency services official has said.

The accident occurred at a site known as the Venable Farm off Siloam Road, as Yanez and others were working in an open field.

Yanez, a resident of the Red Brush community, was an experienced tractor operator who had lived in Surry County for more than 20 years, according to a family source.

His survivors include a son, Nicholas, who is 15 and resides in Pilot Mountain.

While it has been reported that the round bale of hay, possibly weighing 600 pounds, had been lifted too high — thus causing the fatal accident — the family source said Saturday that it could have been equipment-related. For one, the tractor had bad brakes, she said.

Surry County Emergency Services Director John Shelton has said Bryan Cave, who heads the Surry County unit of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, came to the accident scene Thursday night to review what had happened and offer insight about the circumstances.

Yanez’s cause of death was ruled as “traumatic asphyxia,” which occurs when a powerful compressive force is applied to the thorax. CPR and resuscitation efforts at the scene failed to revive the man and he was pronounced dead at Northern Hospital of Surry County later Thursday night.

The hay bale also fell onto another worker, who was treated at the hospital and released.

Reach Tom Joyce at 719-1924 or tjoyce@heartlandpublications.com.