NORTH BEND — One man was taken by Air Care helicopter to University Hospital after he and another man fishing on the Ohio River crashed their motor boat into a coal barge about 7 p.m. Saturday.

        One of the two fishermen made it to shore and called 911. Neither of the men has been identified.

        The men were fishing downriver and did not see the coal barge in the dark, Miami Township Fire Capt. Harry Hinson said. The boat struck the fourth coal barge in a line of seven, which were not moving at the time.

        The barges are used to deliver coal to the Cinergy plant, spokesman Steve Brash said, noting that the docked barges were within the Coast Guard regulation. Brash did not have information immediately available about whether the coal barges had been struck in the past. Water and emergency medical rescue units from Hamilton County responded to the accident near Cinergy's Miami Fort power plant at North Bend.

        Capt.Hinson said the man taken to University Hospital appeared to have a severe head injury. The other man refused treatment.

        The injured man was trapped in an air pocket underneaththe 18- to 20- foot boat, which had not sunk, when he was rescued.

        Hamilton County sheriff's department is investigating.

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