CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal miner’s body was discovered early Thursday in a flooded mine in southern West Virginia. The incident occurred at Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc.’s Rolling Thunder Mine, located near Belva, approximately 50 miles east of Charleston.
The miner was trapped after a mining crew encountered an unexpected water pocket last Saturday, around three-quarters of a mile deep in the mine, which flooded due to the compromise of an old mine wall, according to Gov. Patrick Morrisey. Thankfully, more than a dozen other miners were accounted for during the incident.
This marks the third fatality at an Alpha facility in West Virginia this year. Previously, two accidents resulted in deaths in nearby Raleigh County, raising alarms regarding the prevailing safety conditions in the mining sector.
In response to the flooding incident, crews utilized drilling methods to hasten the search for the trappings and deployed dive teams to investigate potential air pockets in the submerged areas. The National Cave Rescue Commission provided surplus equipment, including Army phone lines, to facilitate communication during the search efforts.
Rolling Thunder is one of Alpha’s 11 underground mines operational in West Virginia. The company also manages four surface mines, alongside three underground and one surface mine in Virginia. The incident has triggered an intense examination of safety protocols within the industry, especially given previous occurrences in West Virginia's mining history, such as a 1968 incident that saw four miners tragically lose their lives after a similar event.
As the mining community mourns this loss, the demand for stringent safety regulations and inspections becomes more prevalent, underscoring the need to prioritize miner safety over production demands.
