(Police Reports - Photo Illustration/MetroCreative)

MCFARLAN — A Ritchie County man died after a single-vehicle accident Wednesday.

According to a release from the West Virginia State Police, Buddy A. Deem, 81, of Smithville, was driving west on West Virginia 47 near 6762 Staunton Turnpike in McFarlan in Ritchie County around 11 a.m. Wednesday. While negotiating a curve, his vehicle went off the road, over a steep embankment and struck a tree. Deem, the sole occupant, was not wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead at the scene, the release said.

The crash remains under investigation.